Olaniyi Career High Leads Saints Back into Win Column

Liberal, Kansas – The last time Seward County faced off with Independence it was a buzzer beater by the Saints that secured the win in game one, but it did not come down to the wire in the second matchup as a career night for Dave Olaniyi propelled SCCC in front late in the game to grab a definitive 92-81 win over the Pirates.

Through the first eight minutes of action is was a constant exchange of baskets between the two teams with the Saints eventually pushing ahead off a long-range triple by Ryle Riddlespurger off the bench to take a 14-10 lead. Olaniyi made his way into the painted circle and scored a layup through contact while drawing the foul and converting the free throw for an old fashion three-point play for the Saints. A few minutes later he made his way back down the lane and muscled through the Independence defense for two but the Pirates responded to take the lead over and enter the halftime break with Seward County trailing 47-41 thanks to a late step-back three from Jaden Martin to close the gap to six.

SCCC came out swinging on a 10-4 run where an easy score at the rim by Mathias M'Madi allowed the Saints to lock the score up at 51 before a mid-range jumper from Martin gave them a two-point lead 58-56 over Indy. Olaniyi once again made his way down the lane but this time made the unselfish play by dropping it off to Nathan Jones and made good on a reverse layup to keep Seward County ahead by four before their lead entered the double figures range thanks to a hard fought score in the paint by Martin to seal the deal with a 92-81 win for the Saints to return home back in the win column.

Olaniyi recorded his best game of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds that were both career highs for the freshman guard. Martin added on 19 points on 6-8 shooting from the field while Lovasoa Andriatsarafara chipped in another 15 points to go with 9 rebounds for a near double-double for the seven-footer from Madagascar.

Seward County now improves to 8-21 on the 2023-24 season with a conference record of 6-17 in Jayhawk conference play. They will return home for sophomore night on Wednesday to wrap up the regular season before preparing for the Region VI tournament where the Saints will be on the road the following Saturday.