Stevenson Scores at the Buzzer as Saints Stun #4 South Plains
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College (7-0) | 43 | 38 | 81 |
|
South Plains College (2-4) | 48 | 31 | 79 |
The Seward County Saints pulled off one of their biggest non-conference road wins in recent memory Wednesday night in the Texan Dome in Levelland, Texas, erasing a 16 point South Plains lead before getting a buzzer beating scoop shot from Niem Stevenson to fall to stun the 4th ranked Texans 81-79, improving Seward to a perfect 7-0 on the year.
In what was by far their biggest test of the young 2015-2016 season, the Saints made the long trip to Levelland, Texas to take on #4 South Plains. Things didn't look good early on for Seward as South Plains came out on fire, jumping out to a 22-8 lead five minutes into the contest. Back to back three pointers from Delano Jones, kept Seward in the game midway through the first half and a reverse layup by James Byrd cut the Texan lead to 40-32 with just over 4:00 remaining in the half. South Plains scored the next eight to blow the game wide open at 48-32, but just when it looked like Seward was out of it, they roared back, going on an 11-0 run to close the final two minutes of the first half and with that, they trailed by just five at the break 48-43.
Both teams were hot in the first half on the offensive end as the Saints shot 54% from the three point line, while South Plains connected on six of their first seven attempts from deep to also end the period over 50% from beyond the arc. Niem Stevenson led Seward with 16 first half points while Jones hit all four of his three point attempts in the first 20 minutes to score 12 for the Saints.
The two teams played relatively even to begin the second half of action with Seward cutting into the South Plains lead by one at the five minute mark, getting to within 57-53 on the Texans. Jones remained red hot, drilling his sixth three of the game with just over 11:00 left to get the Saints back to within two at 61-59. A hard drive to the basket and a foul led Marcus Mathieu to the free throw line and the Saints point guard dropped in a pair of freebies with 8:50 left to give Seward their first lead since the opening minute of the game at 66-65. South Plains was awakened with the lead change and picked things back up to take a 74-69 lead with 5:12 remaining after a loose ball ended up in the Texans hands for an uncontested layup to give them the five point advantage. It remained a grind for the Saints on the offensive end, but their defense kept them in the game when a Stevenson drive and score made it a 74-71 game with just over 3:00 left in regulation. Less than a minute later, Mathieu came up big again, tying the game at 76 with a pair of free throws and into the final minute the two teams went, deadlocked. The Texans scored to go up by two, but Mathieu again was as cool as the other side of the pillow, drilling a three from the wing to give Seward a 79-78 lead. A whistle blown on Seward allowed the Texans to go to the line with a chance to take the lead, but they managed to make just one of two from the stripe to again tie the game, this time at 79. With 20.3 seconds left and the game on the line, the Saints put the ball in the hands of none other than Stevenson who waited until the clock hit eight seconds to begin his drive to the basket before kicking it out to Byrd for a three point attempt. Byrd's three was just off the mark but just when it looked like the two teams were headed to overtime, Stevenson came out of a scrum with the ball and with 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock, flipped up a shot at the basket that fell in as the horn sounded, giving the Saints an 81-79 win over the 4th ranked Texans.
The Saints battled through the elements to come away with the win Wednesday including a 34-17 discrepancy in free throw attempts in favor of South Plains and a lopsided 30-14 foul count stuck on the Saints. Seward shot 46% in the game including 43% from the three point line where they made 13 of 30 attempts. The Saints held the high powered Texan attack to just 41% shooting on the night and to just 1-15 from the three point line after their red hot start.
Stevenson led the Saints with his sixth career 30 point effort. Mathieu scored a season high 19 for the Saints, including hitting four of eight from downtown while Jones took all of his shots from three point land, going six of eight to finish with his season high of 18 points as well. Byrd contributed on the boards with a career high 10 rebounds for the Saints.
Seward improves to 7-0 with the victory while South Plains drops to 2-4 on the early season.
A tough road for the Saints will continue this weekend as they return home for the Billy's/Days Inn Classic Friday and Saturday to take on Frank Phillips and Midland in 8:00 contests in the Greenhouse. Free tickets for the weekend's games are available courtesy of our buyout sponsors Billy's and Days Inn, at their Liberal locations.