Both Southeastern basketball teams punched their ticket for the postseason with pivotal Great American Conference victories last week.
The Savage Storm women toppled Southern Nazarene (65-60) to clinch a berth but it came down to the final game of the season Saturday for the Southeastern men as they shocked Southwestern (68-63).
Each squad will participate in the Great American Conference tournament this weekend at Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Southeastern 65, Southern Nazarene 60 (Women)
A physically grueling battle went the way of the Savage Storm thanks to outstanding efforts from Kenzli Warden and Tori Kilburn as each played all 40 minutes.
Warden was instrumental in a 19-6 flurry during the second quarter that gave Southeastern a nice halftime advantage.
Southeastern rode 13 of 27 shooting from the field during the pivotal middle two periods as the Savage Storm continued to be one of the hottest teams in the Great American Conference.
Three players tallied double figures for the Savage Storm led by Warden’s 19 points and nine rebounds. Kilburn tallied 12 points and seven boards with 12 points also coming from Akiera Hawk off the bench. Stevie Stinchcomb and Mackenzie Espinosa scored eight each.
With a 68-67 come-from-behind triumph at Southwestern on Saturday, Southeastern closed the regular season on a four-game winning streak as well as victories in 11 of their final 12 contests.
A pair of Warden free throws with only two seconds remaining capped a massive Southeastern comeback in which they rallied from a 15-point first half deficit.
Kilburn had a monster effort in the paint, finishing with 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Warden connected for 20 points and eight boards as they finished the regular season at 16-12.
Southeastern 68, Southwestern 63 (Men)
Santiago Camacho Gomez nearly posted a triple double and the Savage Storm got off to a blazing start to notch the critical decision that moved them into playoff position.
Southeastern canned eight of 13 three point tries (62 percent) in the opening half while building a 41-32 edge at the halftime break. The hosts, however, went up by four points midway through the second half and appeared to be taking command when the Savage Storm struck.
A driving lay-in by Camacho Gomez with 6:23 remaining eventually put Southeastern in front to stay, igniting a 12-2 burst which proved decisive.
Camacho Gomez pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists as a late missed free throw was all that kept him from a double-double while adding nine points.
Deondre Dunn led the threepoint charge with five treys on the way to a team-best 20 points. Ethan Wilkerson added 14, Chandler Dickinson pitched in 13 and Augusto Toledo scored 10.
