Posted: Dec 01, 2013
Defense Diced Up In Loss to Western Nebraska
Seward County Community College
(4-6,)
79
Western Nebraska Community College
(5-5,)
90
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College (4-6,) | 41 | 38 | 79 |
|
Western Nebraska Community College (5-5,) | 47 | 43 | 90 |
At the start of the 2013-2014 season, the Seward County Saints had a hard time getting things going on offense in a slow start to their campaign, of late it has been the Seward defense that has let them down. Saturday night was no exception as Western Nebraska picked up just their second win over an NJCAA team all season as they knocked off the Saints 90-79 as Seward falls to 4-6 on the year.
Despite taking on a struggling Western Nebraska team, the Saints knew they would have an uphill battle against the Cougars Saturday afternoon in Scottsbluff as they took the court without their two leading scorers in Niem Stevenson and Kevin Smith who both were on the bench fighting injury problems.
Seward had no answer for Western Nebraska early on, as the Cougars torched the nets for 56% shooting in the first half and were on fire from deep where they shot a tick better at 57% in the first 20 minutes. The Saints however kept themselves in the game by winning the battle on the glass as well as forcing a number of Cougar turnovers to despite shooting just 37% in the half, trail by just six at the break 47-41.
The second half wasn't much different for either side. Western Nebraska continued hitting shots at an alarming rate for the Saints defensive unit while Seward continued to have to grind for every point that they would put up on the scoreboard. The Cougars extended their lead to as many as 17 midway through the half and put the Saints away 90-79 late to win the battle.
The Saints finished the game shooting 37% from the field while Western Nebraska seemingly couldn't miss, shooting 53% in the win and 58% from the three point line. Malcolm Hill-Bey scored a season high 18 for Seward and also led the team with 7 rebounds while Secean Johnson scored 16 and had 6 rebounds. Frank Johnston came off the Saints bench scoring a career high 13 points and Verdell Mays scored 10 off the Seward bench that outscored the Western Nebraska reserves 37-6 in the loss.
Seward will make the long trip back from Scottsbluff winless after the two defeats over the weekend. The Saints fall to 4-6 on the season, marking the worst 10 game start for a Seward team since the 1987-1988 season. They will return home licking their wounds next weekend as they host the Pizza Hut Classic in the Greenhouse Friday and Saturday. Friday the Saints will take on Sunrise Christian at 8:00 followed by a dual with another prep school on Saturday as they battle Kingdom Prep at 8:00.