SE Athletics
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
SHAWNEE, Okla. – Southeastern survived a rusty effort in the season opener and had a foursome of double-digit scorers in a 61-56 win over Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday night in Shawnee, Okla.
The win gets the Savage Storm off to a 1-0 start overall and in Great American Conference Western Division play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup in Weatherford, Okla., against Southwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.
“Aimee and Grace [Alverson] are talented,” said head coach Darin Grover of his two freshmen starters. “You could see that tonight and you see it every day in practice.”
“I’ll start off by saying I’m happy we won. But I’ll add in the next breath that was horrible. We all have rust. One scrimmage under our belt and that’s it. If you watched this game tonight you thought that’s a lot of rust by both teams. Hailey Belvin has improved immensely over the last year. She took her pandemic time and she put it to good use.”
Jordan Benson led all scorers in the contest with 13 points, hitting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Grace Alversonadded 11 points, with Haiden Williams and Hailey Belvin checking in with 10 apiece.
SE shot 41.5 percent from the field and was slightly more efficient from long range, connecting on 42.3 percent from three-point range, hitting 11.
Benson and Aimee Alverson each dished out five assists to lead all players in helpers, while the team handed out 17 total.
Aimee Alverson and Belvin each pulled down six rebounds to lead the team on the boards.
Haiden Williams scored the first points of the season at the 7:10 mark of the opening quarter and the Storm would hold a 4-0 lead five minutes into the game before OBU got on the board in a slow start for both squads.
The Bison would eventually take an 8-7 lead with 1:41 to go in the first before a Benson three would answer and another layup by Benson a possession later would put the Storm ahead 12-8 at the quarter break.
SE would push its lead out to 17-8 on a Benson three at the 8:30 mark, with the lead reaching double-digits on a Grace Alverson three at the 7:42 mark.
The Storm would maintain at least a three-possession lead, reaching a half-high 31-18 on an Aimee Alverson three with 2:02 to play in the half.
However, OBU would score the final five points of the half to cut the Storm lead to 31-23 at the halftime break.
The Bison cut into the Storm edge to open the half before another Benson three would stop the bleeding and pus the lead to 34-27 with 7:32 to go in the third.
OBU followed with a 13-7 run over the next 5:49 to cut the SE lead to 41-40 with 1:31 to play in the third.
An Aimee Alverson three would stretch the lead back to 44-40, and SE would lead 44-41 at the break.
After SE scored to open the final quarter, OBU would slowly chip away at the lead, closing to 49-48 with 6:16 to play.
A Grace Alverson three would answer with a three and the Storm would maintain that five-point advantage as late at the two-minute mark at 57-52.
Four-straight Bison point would again close the gap to one point with 1:11 to play, but SE would take advantage of an offensive foul by OBU with 25 seconds to play and would hit 4-of-6 free throws and hold the Bison scoreless over the final 23 seconds to preserve the 61-56 victory.