Defense Keys Saints Jayhawk West Opening Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Colby Community College (10-6, 1-1) | 20 | 38 | 58 |
|
Seward County Community College (8-6, 1-0) | 31 | 41 | 72 |
It wasn't the prettiest of games to watch as the Seward County Saints opened up their Jayhawk West Conference season Monday night against Colby, but it was the end result that mattered as Seward grinded out a 72-58 win over Colby to start their conference schedule 1-0.
The Saints were active early against the Trojans offense that put up 103 points in their Jayhawk West opener Saturday against Cloud County. Seward jumped out to a 6-0 lead, holding Colby without a point for the first three minutes of the contest. The Saints continued to add to their lead, keeping Colby without their second field goal until the 11:48 mark of the half, a span in which they increased their gap from the Trojans to 15-5. With little flow to the game as whistles blew frequently, it remained a 10 point game to the 4:00 mark of the half, but a mini 4-0 run by Colby cut it to a two possession game at 26-20 after two straight buckets. A Kevin Sims to Tyreke Sharp hookup put the Saints up eight late in the half and a pullup three by Sims one trip later gave Seward a 31-20 advantage into the break.
The Saints held Colby to just 6 first half field goals while turning the Trojans over 10 times. Seward didn't blister the nets on their end by any stretch of the imagination, shooting just 34%, but it was 14 points higher than Colby's 20% in the opening 20 minutes of action. All 10 Seward dressed players scored in the first half, led by Sims' 10.
Seward and Colby played even through the first five minutes of the second half as the Saints retained their 11 point lead. After a Colby free throw made it a 10 point game, Jamal Poplar finished at the bucket for Seward and was fouled where he completed the old fashioned three point play to give the Saints their largest lead to that point in the game at 41-28 with 14:54 to go. The upstart Trojans wouldn't go away however, going on an 11-4 run over the next 5:44 to cut the Seward lead back to just six at 45-39 before the second half media timeout. With much more fire coming out of the break, the Saints scored the next six points, opening their lead back to a dozen and that was all she wrote for the visitors from Northwest Kansas. Colby never got closer than eight for the final 8:20 and the Saints took care of business at the free throw line to eventually come away with a 72-58 win.
Seward held Colby to under 30% shooting in the win while managing to shoot 35% themselves in the contest. The two teams combined for 57 fouls on the night which turned into 73 free throws between the two sides in the 2:10 drawn out battle. All 10 Saints scored multiple points in the victory and three reached double figures on the night as Sims went for a game high 17 while Poplar had 14 and Evan Allen scored 12 and also had a game high 9 rebounds for Seward.
The Saints have quietly gone on a four game win streak to improve their overall season record to 8-6 while winning their Jayhawk West opener for the second straight year. Colby falls to 10-6 overall with the loss and drops back to 1-1 in Jayhawk West play after their opening win against #13 Cloud County.
Seward will have little time to enjoy the spoils of victory as they return to the court Wednesday against a Pratt Beavers team who ended their season in heartbreaking fashion last season in the Region VI Tournament. The Saints and Beavers will go head to head in the Beaverdome in an 8:00 start Wednesday in Pratt. Seward returns home Saturday when they take on #13 Cloud County on Hall of Fame night in the Greenhouse. The Saints Athletics Hall of Fame class will be announced for the first time between the women's and men's games.