DURANT, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Hoops led by 12 at halftime against the number two team in the conference, but saw that lead evaporate in the second half after falling victim to a large run by Southeastern and lost by a final score of 87-78.

It was a tale of two halves for the Dawgs. They started out hot on the offensive end in the first half which allowed them to build a lead.

SWOSU shot 58% from the field in the first half and knocked down seven three-point balls along the way. They also held Southeastern to 35% as a team in the half. At halftime, the Dawgs led 47-35.

In the second half though, Southeastern and Southwestern flip flopped. The Savage Storm scored 52 points out of the halftime locker room, while SWOSU only tallied 31. The Dawgs shot just 37% in the second half, while SE finished above 50%.

Southeastern's dagger was a 25-4 run that spanned nearly nine minutes of game time from the 12:48 mark to the 4:04 mark. During that time, the lead changed from SWOSU being up 12 points (61-52) to Southeastern going up nine at 74-65.

A Ben Smith three pointer with 2:26 left in the game had the Bulldogs within four at 76-72, but Southeastern immediately pushed the lead back to double digits as an answer. With time on SWOSU's side, the Dawgs could not get close enough to make things interesting after that.

Damion Thornton finished with 21 points to lead the offense. He shot 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Chris Braggs, Jr. knocked down with three deep balls and finished with 13 points. Smith also added 13 points.

SWOSU returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 10) against Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. They will then play across the street on Saturday (Feb. 12) against Ouachita.