Cold perimeter shooting was not a good recipe for success for Southeastern as they dropped Great American Conference decisions to Southern Nazarene at home last Thursday night.
The Savage Storm women slipped to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in league play in a 66-56 loss in the opener while the Southeastern men made a run after a slow start but were unable to finish in an 87-81 defeat to the conference leaders.
Both Southeastern teams will conclude their homestand after the new year, hosting Southwestern on Saturday, January 4.
Women
Senior Caitlin Kobiske became the 13th player in program history to eclipse the 500 career rebound threshold while posting a team-high 16 points, but Kenzli Warden was the only other Savage Storm player to near double figures as she finished with 14 points.
Southeastern shot just 38 percent from the field for the night, including hitting only five of 20 three-point territory while Southern Nazarene answered with 49 percent for the game, including 35 percent beyond the arc. The Crimson Storm also ended with a 38-24 cushion in points in the paint.
A solid second stanza, which was easily their best scoring quarter of the game, gave Darin Grover’s club a 32-30 halftime advantage but they only managed nine points in the third frame on four of 14 shooting as the visitors pulled out to a 52-41 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
Abbie Barr pitched in six points with five apiece from Holli Lindley and Ashton Hackler.
Men
Offensive balance was outstanding for Southeastern with five players nearly reaching double digits in scoring but difficult perimeter shooting was a major story, including a dismal one for 10 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Southern Nazarene, however, countered with 58 percent shooting overall while canning eight of 16 three-point tries.
Despite the rough outside shooting in the first half, Southeastern only trailed 3532 at the break. Each time the Crimson Storm appeared to be pulling away after intermission, the young Savage Storm found a way to reel them back in as they trailed by as many as 11 points twice following the break.
Freshmen Ethan Wilkerson and D.J. Dill along with Landon Condiff had big buckets in the first 9-2 scoring flurry by Southeastern with Dill scoring five straight in the second burst that cut the margin to 64-58 with 7:28 remaining.
Wilkerson pumped in five consecutive points as well that narrowed the gap to 70-65 with 5:31 to play but the Savage Storm was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
Dill tossed in 18 points, sinking all seven free throw attempts, to lead the scoring charge. Condiff contributed 16 and Santiago Camacho Gomez returned from injury to tally 15 as well.
Wilkerson finished with 13 points as well as five rebounds with Robert Briley narrowly missing another double-double by posting eight points and 10 boards. Daniel Halldorsson scored six as well for Southeastern.
