Birthday Boy Purtue Leads Saints Over Barton
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Barton Community College (19-9, 7-5) | 30 | 28 | 58 |
|
Seward County Community College (20-8, 10-2) | 27 | 40 | 67 |
Seward County sophomore Quentin Purtue celebrated his birthday in style Wednesday night in the Greenhouse, scoring a conference high 19 points for the Saints as they clinched a share of their fourth straight Jayhawk West title with a 67-58 win over the Barton Cougars.
It was slow going for both sides early on as the Saints and Cougars managed just a bucket per side through the first three minutes as they game was tied at 2. Seward went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes, getting a three from freshman Evan Allen to stretch their lead to 9-2 with 14:00 remaining in the half. Seward pushed their lead to nine moments later as Niem Stevenson cashed in on a second chance on the glass, but a 9-2 run for Barton over the next 2:20 had the Cougars to within two at 15-13 with 11:00 remaining in the half. Malcolm Hill-Bey connected from downtown for Seward to make it a 20-13 game, but after a 5:00 stretch without a bucket, Seward saw their lead shrink down to 22-21 before watching Barton overtake the lead with 2:44 to go in the half. The Saints went the final 9:23 of the half with just a single field goal and yet only went to the break down by three points 30-27.
The Saints shot the ball miserably in the period, shooting just 30% from the field, while Barton was much better, shooting 55%. Quentin Purtue led the Saints with 8 first half points while both teams leading scorers were quiet as the Saints Niem Stevenson had just 6 points and Barton's Darius Gibson only 2 at the half.
The halftime break didn't energize either teams offense much as the defensive battle continued early on in the second when Brian Bridgeforth finished at the rim for Seward to put them back in front 33-32. After falling back behind by one, Secean Johnson threw down a dunk for Seward to give them the lead back 37-36 with 13:33 to go, but a technical foul on the Saints and two successful free throws for Barton gave the Cougars the slight edge 38-37 at the 12:12 mark. The game was tied at 40 with 11:00 to go and a Barton bucket here and there and Seward free throws kept the game tied up at 48 as the clock ticked under 7:00. A dunk in transition by Stevenson and two more free throws from the freshman broke the tie and gave the Saints a 52-48 lead, but a 5-0 run for Barton gave the Cougars the lead as the Saints offense again went quiet. Fighting hard for another offensive rebound and putback was Stevenson on the Saints next possession to give the Saints the 54-53 nod and another basket on their ensuing trip had them in front 57-53 with 2:40 remaining. As Barton looked to crawl back to within two, a steal by Tyreke Sharp and feed ahead to Stevenson for a two handed slam but the Saints up six and as the Saints could start to feel it down the stretch they opened up their lead before going on to close out a 67-58 win.
Purtue led the Saints with 19 points in a gutty 34 minute effort on his birthday while Stevenson overcame a slow shooting night to finish with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Johnson also had a rough night shooting, going just 2 for 8 from the field, but the freshman from Philly still managed to score 13 for Seward in 32 minutes of action. The Saints finished the game shooting just 35% from the field while Barton shot 42%, but the Cougars were 0 for 13 from three point land and the Saints outscored Barton 27-16 at the line on the night.
Still while riding the emotional high of the win, the Saints got even better news as they went to their locker room after the game as Cloud County hung on to knock off a battered Hutchinson team which meant that Seward County had clinched at least a share of their fourth straight Jayhawk West Conference Championship. Also with the win, the Saints clinch the #1 spot from the West for the upcoming Region VI Tournament which will start on March 1st in the Greenhouse where they will host the #8 seed from the Jayhawk East.
The Saints have now won 16 of 18 games and sit at 20-8 overall and 10-2 in Jayhawk West action. The 20th win for the Saints marks the 7th straight year for Seward to reach the 20 win plateau, marking the first time in Saints basketball history that they have done so. Barton falls to 19-9 overall and 7-5 in league play with the loss.
Seward will look to make even more history on Saturday night in Concordia with a date with Cloud County as the Saints look to become what is thought to be the first ever Jayhawk West team to win four straight outright conference titles. The Saints return home next Wednesday to wrap up the regular season as they host Pratt on sophomore recognition night in the Greenhouse.