'Los Santos' Grind Out Overtime Win Against Buffs

The Seward County Saints found themselves in their first dog fight of the year Saturday night in the Greenhouse against Sunrise Christian at their annual Hispanic Heritage night celebration.  Seward trailed the Buffaloes by three at the half before mounting a second half comeback  to eventually force the game into overtime where they clipped Sunrise 74-72 at the end to improve to a perfect 4-0 on the early season. 

Seward started strong against the Buffaloes, a non-NJCAA team already with a victory on the season over KJCCC member Pratt.  Back to back threes early in the first half gave Seward an 8-2 lead and a drive and score from Niem Stevenson moments later stretched the Saints advantage to eight at 13-5.  The Saints led 15-7 at the 12:51 mark of the half, but went ice cold through the middle portion of the period, going scoreless for over five minutes as Sunrise went on a 12-0 run, battering Seward on the inside to take their first lead of the night at 19-15.  A three by Marcus Mathieu broke the Saints long drought, but another three minute stretch without any points put Seward in a 26-23 hole with 3:41 to go in the half.  The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half which meant that at the end of 20 minutes of action the Saints trailed 32-29.  Seward managed to shoot just 31% in the half, but stayed in the contest by forcing 14 first half Buffalo turnovers. 

Stevenson started heating up for the Saints as the second half got going, but unfortunately for Seward, he was the only one.  The All-American scored the Saints first eight points of the half, but no other Seward player scored until the 14:38 mark as they remained in the trail position by two 38-36.  Mathieu scored in transition to tie the score up and two trips later Charles Beauregard, ailing with a nearly swollen shut left eye from an injury in Friday's game, drilled a three from the wing to put the Saints in front 43-40 with 13:26 to go.  After a Sunrise score, a three from Delano Jones gave the Saints a four point lead, their biggest since early in the game, but they weren't able to hold it as Sunrise continued to fight, taking a four point lead of their own just before the second half media timeout.  After three straight Stevenson points pulled Seward to within one, a three from Kris Williams gave the Saints a 52-50 advantage with 7:17 remaining.  As time began to wither away, the Saints built their lead to four and looked to be in good shape, up 61-57 with just over one minute remaining in regulation.  A pair of Buffalo free throws made it a 61-59 game with 54 seconds left and Sunrise chose to foul Seward on the Saints next trip down the floor, turning into two points from the stripe for James Byrd to make it a 63-59 game with 23 seconds remaining.  On their next possession, Sunrise raced the ball down the floor and got a wing three by KJ Santos to cut the Saints lead to just one at 63-62 with 17 seconds left.  The Saints put the ball in Stevenson's hands, knowing the Buffaloes were looking to foul as they worked against Seward and the clock, but Stevenson was only able to make one of two from the line for the Saints and it was a 64-62 game with time winding down.  Down to their last shot, Sunrise connected, scoring to tie the game and Seward's desperation attempt to win the game in regulation fell short and the teams headed to overtime knotted at 64. 

Both sides clamped down on the defensive end in overtime as the Saints didn't allow Sunrise to get their first OT field goal until the 2:08 mark while Seward was without a field goal, but was able to knock down six free throws to take a 70-68 lead.  A Seward foul and one Sunrise made free throw with just over a minute left made it a 70-69 game before a swipe and score from Beauregard lit up the Greenhouse and put the Saints up 72-69 with 25 seconds to go.  In another desperation situation, Sunrise was gifted three free throws on an Oscar worthy performance by Rosoevelt Smart, who hit all three with the pressure on him to tie the score at 72.  Needing a score on their final possession, the Saints went back to Stevenson who drove the ball hard to the basket and was fouled to send him to the line for two free throw attempts.  Stevenson stuck the first to put the Saints back on top and hit the second to make it a 74-72 game.  Sunrise had one last chance and got a decent look in front of their bench, but the game winning attempt was just off the mark and the horn sounded giving the Saints a 74-72 overtime win. 

It was not the prettiest of games for Seward offensively as they shot a season low 32% in the win, but they did limit themselves to just 14 turnovers, equating to just eight points for Sunrise while the Buffaloes turned the ball over 34 times on the night, giving Seward 23 points off turnovers.  Once again, Stevenson led the Saints charge, scoring a game high 27 points while hitting 15 free throws on the night, tied for 5^th most in a game in Saints history.  Mathieu went for 18 in the victory and connected on all three of his three point attempts on the night while Beauregard reached double figures for the second straight night with 11 points. 

Seward improves to 4-0 with the victory while Sunrise goes to 1-3 against Jayhawk competition. 

Next up for Seward is Dodge City's Pizza Hut Classic on Friday and Saturday where they will take on Labette and Lamar JV in matinee affairs. 

SEWARD COUNTY/SUNRISE CHRISTIAN BOX SCORE