SE Athletics
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern used an 11-0 run late in the fourth quarter to erase a deficit and take control of the game on its way to a 75-69 road win over Arkansas tech in Russellville, Ark., on Thursday night.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 4-7 on the season overall and 2-3 in Great American Conference play heading into game two of its central Arkansas road swing at Harding at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“This is a hard place to play over here,” said head coach Darin Grover. “Not because of the environment but because the team is always good. People always talk about hard places to play, well usually that’s because the team’s good.”
“To put the touch on that pass,” he continued when discussing Lauren Beason’s outing, “And to do that as really an inexperienced player, that’s a tough spot to be in. But I thought that Lauren came in and she’s always been one that’s gotten us some rebounds, and we know that she’s a talented player, and that’s the reason she got her first career start.”
Kamryn Cantwell finished the contest with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting while also adding six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Briley Moon joined her in double-figures with 10 points while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
Haiden Williams came off the bench to add 10 points as well, hitting a pair of threes, while adding five boards.
Kentoya Woods chipped in nine points and seven rebounds in just 13 minutes of play, while Lauren Beason added eight points on the back of a pair of threes while also blocking two shots.
The Storm held a 47-to-40 edge on the boards, while the offense finished the game shooting 40.3 percent, including a 47.1 percent effort from three-point range, while defensively holding ATU to 41.3 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc.
ATU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but back-to-back Kobiske buckets would close that early gap to 5-4 by the 7:15 mark of the opening quarter.
The Suns would answer by reeling off a 9-0 run, taking a 13-4 lead before a Grace Alverson three snapped the streak with 5:11 to go in the frame.
The teams would trade buckets over the final half of the first quarter, with ATU getting the last word and SE would head to the second quarter trailing 24-15.
The Storm would fall behind by 11 points two and a half minutes into the second quarter, but a Cantwell three would kick off an 11-0 run capped by a pair of Moon free throws at the 3:55 mark to knot the game at 26-26.
ATU would answer and regain the lead briefly, but a Cantwell jumper and a Beason three would give Southeastern its first lead of the contest at 31-28.
The Suns would score four of the final six points and the teams would head to the half tied at 33-33.
SE would take a lead to open the second half on a Cantwell bucket, but the teams would trade buckets on the way to a 39-39 tie.
The Storm would regain the lead on a Williams free throw and a Grace Alverson three would extend that lead to four points with 3:20 to play in the third.
ATU would twice close the gap to two points, but a Woods three-point-play with 7 seconds left in the quarter to give Southeastern a 43-38 lead after three quarters.
The Suns would close the gap over the first half of the fourth quarter, tying the game at 55-55 before eventually taking a 60-57 lead with 4:31 remaining.
The lead was still three points with under three and a half minutes to play when a Cantwell layup kicked off an 11-0 run over 2:29 with two Cantwell free throws giving Southeastern a 70-62 lead with 59 seconds to play.
ATU would twice close the gap five points in the final minute, but the Storm would hold on for the 75-69 victory.
