Saints Give Up Late Run in Loss to Coffeyville

Liberal, Kansas – A week removed from their first conference win of the season, the Seward County Saints men's basketball team made the five-hour road trip east to take on the Coffeyville Red Ravens where it was neck-and-neck through the first thirty minutes of action but a late run by Coffeyville in the final ten minutes caused Seward County to fall 72-57 on the road.

Scoring came quickly in the opening minutes for both teams with Coffeyville pulling ahead by four before Amir Whitlock was able to find his range with a deep step-back three over two defenders to put the score back to within one at 6-5. Nathan Jones showed his hustle for SCCC with an offensive rebound that turned into an easy second chance score that finally put the Saints in double figures, trailing the Red Ravens 17-10 mid-way through the first half. Blessin Kimble continued his success on the court for Seward County with strong efforts on both sides of the ball, recording a block, drawing a charge, and converting the and-one opportunity to put the Saints back to within three at 19-16. In the final five minutes Malakye Cunningham was able to add to the scoring effort for Seward County with a turnaround jumper after dropping his defender and moments later cashed in a long range three to tie the game up at 33 before the Red Ravens knocked down a three of their own in the final seconds of the half to go into the breakup 36-33.

Coming out of halftime the Saints were able to create a quick 7-0 run of their own thanks to a three from the wing by Carson Bennett and an easy post score by Kimble off the fead from Whitlock to push SCCC ahead for the first time 40-36. Coffeyville eventually climbed back to retake the advantage, but Mervin Hope crashed in on the offensive glass for the putback layup that locked the score at 47 before disaster struck for Seward County. The Red Ravens once again took the lead off a 14-3 run to put the score at 61-50 and it was all but over from their as Coffeyville finished the game on a 23-8 run in the final ten minutes to hand the Saints a 72-57 loss on the road in Jayhawk Conference play.

Once again Kimble led Seaward County in scoring with 13 points while also leading the team in rebounds and assists with 7 and 4 respectfully. Whitlock added on 12 more points for the Saints and Jones scoring 8.

Seward County now falls to 3-6 overall on the 2023-24 season and now sit at 1-4 in Jayhawk Conference action. They will make the trip back home to prepare for a weekend matchup against a top ten nationally ranked opponent in the #8 Barton Cougars inside of the Green House with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 PM.