DURANT, Okla. – During an intense rivalry night across the Great American Conference, the East Central University men's basketball team lost a shootout with Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 82-75, in a packed Bloomer Sullivan Arena on Thursday night.
 
The loss drops the Tigers to 10-13 overall and 6-11 in GAC play while the Savage Storm improves to 18-7 overall and 14-3 in conference play.
 
Despite what was a statistically close first half, ECU only managed to lead once when Mohamed Elgohary's layup briefly put them up 22-20 with nine minutes left until halftime. Another layup from Mohamed extended ECU's lead to four points, but back-to-back three-pointers by Southeastern allowed them to seize the lead and maintain it until the break. The Tigers remained in the game, though, trailing 43-36 at intermission.
 
The second half also remained a close affair early on, but Southeastern's sharp three-point shooting gradually widened the gap, pushing ECU into a double-digit deficit. A 12-4 run by the Savage Storm further stretched the margin, extending their lead to as many as 13 points approaching the 10-minute mark. Although ECU kept responding to Southeastern's baskets as both teams scored 39 points in the final 20 minutes, the Savage Storm's first-half edge, fueled by nine three-pointers, proved to be the difference maker as they went on to secure the 82-75 victory.
 
ECU finished the night shooting 51.6% from the floor compared to Southeastern's 47.5% performance. However, the Savage Storm hit 13 of 33 three-pointers (39.4%) while the Tigers made eight of 19 (42.1%).
 
Godsgift Ezedinma was the Tigers' leading scorer with 19 points on 8-for-19 shooting, including three three-pointers, while Robel Desta was next coming off the bench with 18 points going 7-for-10 from the field. Keyon Thomas was the other double-digit scorer adding 11 points.
 
The ECU men's basketball team will next play Southern Nazarene University in a GAC road test on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3 pm.