Saints Hang On, Win Nailbiter Over #23 Cloud
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cloud County Community College (13-4, 0-3) | 29 | 49 | 78 |
|
Seward County Community College (9-7, 2-1) | 43 | 41 | 84 |
An 18-2 run midway through the first half all but secured a victory for Seward County Saturday night in the Greenhouse as they were outscored by visiting Cloud by 10 on the night outside of that run, but that was just a moral victory for the T-Birds who watched the Saints hang on to win a wild 84-78 contest on Hall of Fame Night in Liberal.
Saturday nights Seward County Cloud County matchup was a back and forth affair from the beginning as the Saints and Thunderbirds traded blows early to a 6-6 score three minutes into action. A 6-1 T-Bird run gave Cloud their first substantial lead of the game, but Seward quickly came back and cut the T-Bird lead to just one at 16-15 with 12:35 left in the half. Mitchell Packard came off the Saints bench and made an immediate impact for the second straight game, lining up a three and burying it in front of the Cloud bench to put Seward on top 18-16. The three jumpstarted Seward who went on an 18-2 run over the next 5:12, ending on another Packard bucket to put the Saints up 33-18. An aggressive Saints offense continued to put points on the board, but a high powered Cloud team matched them for the final 7:04 of the half, but it was Seward going into the locker rooms at half with a 43-29 lead on the nation's 23rd ranked team. The Saints blistered the nets for 54% shooting in the first half while holding Cloud to just 36% in the first 20 minutes of action.
A three by Tyreke Sharp out of the locker rooms gave the Saints their largest lead of the night at 17, but as the Lady Saints did just two hours earlier, Seward watched as Cloud made their run, cutting the Saints lead all the way down to just one after a 20-4 T-Bird march made it a 51-50 game with 11:31 to go. It remained a nip and tuck battle from there as the Saints continued to lead, but couldn't get any distance from the T-Birds as it remained a one possession game at 64-62 with 6:45 to go. After Darius Polley connected with Jamal Poplar for a deuce, Polley nailed a stepback three of his own and it seemed to have turned the tide in the way of big green as Seward pushed their lead to 69-62 with 5:25 remaining. It was a six point Seward lead when Polley made the play of the game, pushing the ball up the court through traffic before throwing down a thunderous one handed dunk in the face of two Cloud defenders to give the Saints a 75-67 lead with under three minutes left on the clock. Cloud kept on fighting though and with under a minute left, a T-Bird tip in, made it a one possession game at 81-78. On the next Seward trip, the Saints were fouled and made one of two free throws to make it a four point game and Seward turned up its defensive intensity, holding Cloud off the board for the final 54 seconds to spoil their comeback bid and the Saints went on to capture the win 84-78.
Both teams were on point offensively in the second half as Cloud shot 68% from the field to finish at 49% overall while Seward shot an even 50% to finish at 52% on the night. For the second straight game Seward was dialed in from distance, matching their season high with 11 three's, going 11 for 25 from beyond the arc, good for 44%. The Saints also took care of business at the charity stripe, shooting 70% on the night at the line while Cloud struggled, shooting just 55%. Nick Singleton had his second straight big game for Seward, scoring a team high 17 and also pulling down a team best 7 rebounds on the night. Kevin Sims scored 15 for Seward while Secean Johnson had 14. Polley and Packard combined for 16 off the Saints bench, each without missing a shot, going 6 for 6 together.
Seward wins a key game in their quest for their fifth straight Jayhawk West title. The Saints improve to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in league action. #23 Cloud drops its third straight after a 13-1 start to drop to 13-4 overall and the T-Birds remain winless in conference action at 0-3 after the first week of play.
The Saints won't have much time to recover from the draining win over the T-Birds as they take the court again on Monday in another key Jayhawk West date against Barton. The Saints and Cougars will go at it in Great Bend at 7:30 Monday in a makeup game from their originally scheduled January 3rd matchup.