DURANT - Southeastern basketballers dropped a pair of highly winnable games to Tarleton State University here Saturday night.

The Lady Savages gave the TexAnns all they wanted and it was a 2-point game with 2:36 remaining before TSU pulled away to a 61-54 victory that made it 9-18 and 4-8 in the Lone Star North for SOSU. Tarleton is 14-13 and 7-5.

The Savages got a three-pointer by Cedric Walker as he was falling out of the left corner at the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 74.

The Texans outscored SOSU 13-6 in OT for a misleading 87-80 win that knocked the Savages out of the playoffs and ended the season at 13-14 overall, 5-7 LSCN.

Coach Lonn Reisman's Texans, winners of the LSCN going into the game, improved to 24-3 and 14-1.

Women

It was tied at two, seven and 11 and TSU pulled away to a 24-16 edge before the Lady Savages rallied to hit nine in a row and the halftime score was 26-26 standoff.

Neither team could take command of the game in the second half. SOSU made it a two-point deficit, 54-52 with 2:36 left in the game when Jessica Hocker hit 1 of 2 at the line.

Lady Savage coach Nick Keith said, "This was a typical game for us this year. The kids played outstanding defense, but we were unable to generate much offense. We held a high-scoring team to just 61 points, but when you score only 54, it's tough to win in this league.

"Our kids never quit, they all played hard just as they've done all season. We lose two seniors, Randi Wilson and Stephanie Williams, and they will be hard to replace. Randi was here two years and Stephanie just one, but they were really important to us.

"We have a good nucleus coming back and we've already added two players for next year.

"We have some more we feel we're pretty close to getting. Nikki Wilson is already here in school and I watched Staci Willis play a great game Friday night as she led her Silo team to the State Tournament."

Men

Southeastern's first lead came on a free throw by Clint Baker that made it 12-11 with 10:21 left in the first 20 minutes.

TSU built the lead to five several times, but the Savages roared back to tie it at 26 and go on to a 36-33 advantage at intermission.

It was tied at 63 and again TSU built a five-point bulge. The Savages wouldn't go away, however, and it was tied at 74 on Walker's trey as he went into the crowd with no time left in regulation.

The Texans knocked in 6 of 8 at the line in the 5-minute overtime and the Savages hit just 1 of 2 as TSU pulled out the victory.

Freshman Jason Stampley led the Savages with 19 points on 5 of 11 treys. Baker added 17 with 1 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Eric Babers scored 12 and pulled down nine rebounds to top both teams in that category and miss another double-double. He had six offensive boards, hit 4 of 6 from the field, 4 of 4 at the line, handed out two assists and blocked four shots.

Jeremy Brown was in double figures with 11 points, but was limited to just two boards. Walker had nine points with 3 of 7 treys, Steve Harrell scored six, Maurice Gardner four and Jordan Dreiling came off the bench to hit one of one from the field.

All-America guard Brandon Lee led TSU with 20 points. Chris Williams scored 16, David Stephens had 12 and eight boards, Tim Burnette and Tierrius Thomas finished with 11 each.

Savage coach Tony Robinson said, "Our kids feel like we can and should have beaten this team. I told them in the locker room they should have no regrets. We left it all on the floor.

"This has been a great year setting the foundation for the future. Walker and Tims will be missed, but our job now in the offseason is to make our kids understand the urgency to get better for next year."