SE Athletics
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
ALVA – Five players reach double-figures and Southeastern drains 12 threes on the night on its way to a 72-65 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night in Alva, Okla.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-7 on the season in Great American Conference Western Division play heading into a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southern Nazarene at 4 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
“This is our farthest trip,” said head coach Kelly Green, “So you throw that into account. Their gym is a little different than the other gyms. It’s a neat environment. Especially back in 1984, it was a great environment whenever there was some basketball being played here. It was really a tough place to play back then and it still is now.”
“Early we made some shots,” Green continued, “And then we went on a little bit of a lull, but our pace was good early. We were moving the ball and we were constantly on the attack which got us in a rhythm and got us some open looks. In the second half we came down a little bit more and ran some things occasionally and got some success. Got the ball inside a time or two and scored it around the basket. Got them spread out defensively. We went to a little zone with about four minutes to go, I think we were up four and we got a couple of turnovers by them right away which really helped us.”
Vadim Clanet led the Storm with 17 points on the strength of five threes.
Bobby Johnson was next in line with 15 points with a trio of threes, while Kellen Manek was right behind him with 14.
RJ Weeks added 11 points, while Adam Dworsky rounded out the team’s double-digit scorers with 10.
Dworsky just missed a double-double with nine assists, while Clanet, Manek, Weeks, and Johnson each added three as the team finished with 21 assists on 26 buckets.
Manek and Johnosn pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Clanet added six and Dworsky corralled five.
Johnson and Clanet got the Storm off to a fast start as each connected on an early three for a 6-0 lead en route to a 13-3 run to open the half that was capped by a Manek layup with 16:15 to go int eh first half to take a 13-3 lead.
The pace slowed overt he next five minutes as NWOSU chipped away at the SE advantage and by the 7:26 mark would take a 26-25 lead.
The Rangers would push on ahead to an eight-point lead before Southeastern responded with five-straight, closing the gap to three points.
That was the difference after a Johnson jumper with 47 seconds to go in the half, but NWOSU would get a layup before the buzzer and SE trailed 41-36 at the halftime break.
The Storm chipped away at the deficit to open the second half, tying the game at the 16:28 mark on a Johnson three, and regaining the lead 33 seconds later when Clanet drained a three to go up 49-48.
SE would hold tight to a one-possession lead until the Rangers swiped it back with 10:52 remaining.
The teams would once more trade the lead and NWOSU held onto a 59-58 lead with 7:48 to play.
A Weeks three would kick off an 8-0 run over the next 3:08 to take a 67-59 lead with 3:34 to play after a Manek free throw.
That lead would hit nine by the 2:22 mark after back-to-back Dworsky buckets, before four late points by NWOSU over the final 1:31 would close the final score to 72-65.