DURANT, Okla. – SWOSU Men's Basketball took on Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon for the only game of the week and first of the new year. Behind career highs from Tucker Shepherd and Elijah Williams, the Bulldogs erased a 13-point second half deficit to earn a 74-68 road win.
The Dawgs found themselves in a hole early in the game, trailing by as many as 12 points at 21-9 with about eight minutes into the first half. A defense that tightened the screws and freshman Shepherd who exploded for 16 first half points and 3 threes gave the Dawgs their first lead at 29-27 with five minutes to go in the first period. After back-and-forth possessions which had two lead changes and a tie, the score sat at 37-34 at halftime in favor of the Bulldogs.
Prior to Saturday, Shepherd had a career high of six points. He bested that by 10 after just one half.
After a Dawgs and-one by Elijah Williams to open up the half gave SWOSU a 40-34 lead, Southeastern went on a 19-0 run to put the scoreboard at 53-40 with 13:28 to play.
When the Bulldogs needed it, Shepherd provided, hitting another three – his fourth of the game. Tobias Roland added a three of his own. An extended 14-1 run tied the game at 54 a piece with just 7:58 remaining in the game. This spark was what SWOSU was looking for and the energy shifted inside of Boomer Sullivan Arena. Back-to-back threes from Elijah Williams and Shephard, both off of offensive rebounds, gave the Bulldogs a lead of 64-55 for their largest of the game and capped off a 24-2 run.
A successful press break from MJ Warrior sparked a fast break for a wild open punctuation slam from Williams putting the game to rest.
Career days for both the freshman, Shepherd, and Williams led the way for SWOSU. Shepherd knocked down five threes and notched 22 points both good enough for season highs. Williams had his career high in points (21), threes (4) and rebounds (7). He shot 8-11 from the field and 4-6 from the deep ball.
The numbers had the Bulldogs shooting at 41.7% (25-60) from the field and 37.0% (10-27) from three-point land. The Savage Storm shot 47.5% (28-59) and 28.6% (4-14) from the deep ball. Both three pointers made (4) and attempted (14) are season lows for the Storm.
SWOSU picked up their first road win of the year and now sits at 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the GAC and will be back at it next Thursday, January 9 when they play Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Arkansas at 7:30 pm. Then on Saturday (Jan. 11) they will travel across the street to play Ouachita Baptist to close out the road trip.
