Saints rally again, knock off Mountaineers to go 2-0

LIBERAL, Kan. – The Seward County Community College men's basketball team rallied in the second half to beat Eastern Oklahoma State College, 93-79, on Saturday at the Greenhouse in the Pizza Hut Classic. The Saints improved to 2-0.

For the second consecutive night, Seward started off slow and was behind most of the game. The Saints were down by as many as 14 before trailing by three, 40-37, at halftime.

In the second half, the Mountaineers expanded its lead to 53-45 with 15:07 remaining, but the Saints scored seven of the next nine points to close the gap to 55-52.

The turning point in the game came when Seward took advantage of an Eastern Oklahoma meltdown as it was called for a pair of technical fouls. The Saints nailed three of the four free throws to knot the game at 55 with 10:53 left.

Stephen Takyi scored a basket to put Seward ahead at 57-55. The Saints would not give up the lead and pulled away with a 13-3 run to hold a 70-58 cushion with 7:13 left. Seward sealed the game by hitting seven of eight free throws in the final minutes of the game.

Roy Clarke and Branton McCrary each had 17 points to lead five Seward players in double figures. Nika Metskhvarishvili scored 13, Rostyslav Novitiskyi netted 11 and Takyi chipped in with 10 points for Seward, which was also 30-of 41at the free throw line.

Jace Pratt had 16 points and Stefone Richardson and Tairell Fletcher each scored 14 points to pace Eastern Oklahoma, which fell to 0-2.

The Saints host Lamar Junior Varsity at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Greenhouse