Efficient Saints Blow By Indy in Playoff Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College (15-15) | 39 | 39 | 78 |
|
Independence Community College (8-22) | 20 | 49 | 69 |
In a swift and extremely efficient manner, the Seward County Saints took care of business on the road in the First Round of the 2015 Region VI Tournament Saturday night, knocking off the Jayhawk East's Independence 78-69 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score showed.
It was all Saints from the start after the long trip to Southeast Kansas as a Secean Johnson drive and score three minutes in had Seward up 13-5 to get the game started. Seward continued to push, stretching their lead to 27-10 at the first half media timeout against the Pirates. Two minutes later Darius Polley found a cutting Kevin Sims to give the Saints a 20 point lead and Seward just about kept their advantage there as they took a 39-20 lead into the break at half.
Seward shot an even 50% in the first 20 minutes and had just 2 first half turnovers while the Saints held Independence to 33% shooting and just 1 of 7 from long range in the period.
Taking good care of the ball and valuing each possession, the Saints kept their distance from the Pirates as the second half began. Seward carried an 18 point lead to the midway point of the second half and remained up 17 with 6:00 left as Sims connected on a jumper from the wing. It was still a 14 point game with just over 1:00 left when Independence made a mini run and the Pirates made a shot at the buzzer to make the final score respectable, but in the end it was way too much green and white for the Pirates as Seward came home to Liberal with a 78-69 win to advance to the Region VI Quarterfinals in Wichita.
The final numbers were somewhat staggering for the Saints as Seward finished the game with just 3 total turnovers and the Saints shot 51% overall from the field. Independence shot 46% in the game, but turned it over 14 times to Seward. Four Saints scored in double figures in the win including Sims who led the way with 18 and Mitchell Packard who put in a career high 13 for Seward.
The Saints snap a three game losing streak improve to 15-15 on the year with the win and advance to the Region VI Quarterfinals Thursday at Koch Arena in Wichita where they will take on the #7 ranked and top seeded team in the tournament, the Butler Grizzlies for the third time this season. Independence ends a miserable year 8-22 going from a Jayhawk East Championship to the first team bounced from this years tournament.