SE Sports
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
DURANT – Southeastern erased a nine-point over the final minute of play before Anotn Cook drained a three to force overtime where the Savage Storm outscored Harding 28-19 to finish off a 121-112 record-setting victory on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
The win moves the Savage Storm to 11-16 on the year and 7-14 in Great American Conference play with one game remaining against Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m. on Feb. 25.
Cook’s conference-record 46 points lasted just three weeks as Thursday night he went 12-of-22 from the floor with a 7-of-10 effort from three point range and 17-of-18 at the free throw line to break his own GAC scoring mark with 48 points.
Overall the game was the highest scoring contest in GAC history with 233 points, while the overtime period was NCAA Division II record caliber as the 28 points in the five minute frame was the most by a team in DII competition, with the 47 points the two teams combined for setting a new mark as well. The old team record was 27 held by Southern Indiana versus Central Missouri in 1985, while 46 points was the old combined record first reached by North Dakota State and South Dakota on Jan. 9, 1999 and matched by NDSU and St. Cloud State on Jan. 16, 1999.
Tyler Lonzie was next in line for the Storm on offense with 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting, while Kevin Buckingham checked in with 18 points with a pair of threes.
Bobby Johnson came off the bench to add in 13 points, including a trio of threes.
Jett Jobe finished with just six points off a pair of threes, but dished out 10 assists to trigger the SE offense.
That offense shot 51.9 percent for the game from the field, including a 7-of-8 effort from the floor in OT for an 87.5 percent clip.
Despite holding a 15 point lead at 66-51 with 12:56 to play, the Storm would find themselves looking up at a nine point deficit when Cook stepped to the free throw line with 55 seconds to play in regulation.
He would hit both and score six of the team’s next eight points at the charity stripe with a Buckingham tipin providing the other bucket to close that gap to 91-90 with 12 seconds to go.
Harding’s Tim Wagner would end the run with a pair of free throws at the 11 second mark, and Cook would drain a three with four seconds left to knot the game at 93-93 and send it to overtime.
The points came quickly in the OT session as a Lonzie layup would open SE’s scoring, but the Bisons would tie it immediately.
Cook followed with a three point play to give the Storm a three point advantage and they would never look back.
HU would close the gap to one point twice, but after a Buckingham three was followed up by a Lonzie dunk with 2:56 to go, opening up a six point lead, SE would lead by two possessions for the remainder of the contest, winning 121-112.
Harding early on, going up by as many as nine points before an 18-6 run was capped by Cook with a three at the 8:58 mark to put the Storm ahead 30-27.
The teams would remain close throughout the remainder of the first half with SE scoring the final four points of the half to go up 45-40 at the break.