Missed Chances Cost Saints at Garden

When you looked at the stat sheet at the end of the Seward County Saints game Wednesday night in Garden City, there were a number of different categories in which you saw that would have pointed towards a Seward victory.  The Saints forced 25 Broncbuster turnovers, Seward shot 41 free throws in the game, and picked up 17 steals in the contest, but in the end, it came down to the Saints defense and its inability to slow down the Garden City attack that shot 53% in the game and outrebounded Seward 45-22 to give the Busters a big 89-83 win over the Saints and hand Seward its seventh Jayhawk West loss of the season. 

As expected, it was a good game in front of a spirited crowd early on in the Perryman Center Wednesday night as the Saints and Busters traded baskets to a 7-7 score four minutes into the contest.  The Saints jumped in front 16-13 at the first half media timeout and stretched their lead to eight moments later as Secean Johnson connected on a three and Evan Allen scored on a smooth reverse layup to make it a 23-15 game with 8:37 to go in the half.  Seward took a nine point lead before back to back Garden City scores cut their lead to 30-25 and the Busters came all the way back to tie the score at 44 with 2:46 to play in the period.  A three by Darius Polley put the Saints back on top 36-33, but it was all Garden City from there into the half as the Busters outscored Seward 12-4 in the final three minutes to take a 45-40 lead into the half. 

Seward had a hard time even slowing Garden down in the first half as the Busters shot 55% and tallied nine more field goal attempts in the period thanks to a 19-11 advantage on the glass.  The Saints were respectable on their offensive side of the floor, shooting 46% from the field and cashing in on 14 of 15 free throw attempts. 

As the second half got underway, once again it was not the Saints offense to blame for their shortcomings.  Seward scored and got to the free throw line with regularity, but it was their defense that was unusually soft in the seams.  Slowly the Busters stretched their advantage and by the midway point of the period Garden City was on top 66-59.  The Busters pushed their lead to 10 with 6:07 to go and then held an 83-72 lead with just under 3:00 remaining.  The Saints made one last push, cutting the Garden City lead to just four at 83-79 with 1:49 left after a three point play from Johnson, but a key whistle would go against the Saints on the next possession and they never recovered as Garden stretched their lead back out before going on to win 89-83. 

The Saints finished the night shooting 46% from the field and they forced 25 Broncbuster turnovers, but Garden managed to shoot 53% on the night from the field and outrebounded Seward 45-22 including 12 offensive boards to the Saints 2 in the contest.  Johnson posted his second straight huge game against the Busters in a losing effort Wednesday, going for 27 points and 5 steals for the Saints while Kevin Sims added 19 for the Saints and Polley scored a career high 17 off the Seward bench. 

The loss is a big one for Seward in their quest for a home playoff date as the Saints drop to 14-13 overall and 7-7 on the year where they are now in a log game, currently in 5^th place with two games to go.  Garden City has now won three of their last four games and is 17-12 overall and 6-9 in league play, good for 7^th place at nights end. 

The road doesn't get any easier for Seward as they look forward as the Saints will now host #8 Butler at home on Saturday night on Sophomore Recognition Night in the Greenhouse before wrapping up their regular season on the road at #25 Hutchinson next Wednesday.  Free tickets for Saturday's game against Butler at 8:00 in the Greenhouse are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor Sharp, McQueen, PA. at their Liberal office as well as at Express Lane, Pizza Hut, and Community Bank in Liberal. 

SEWARD COUNTY/GARDEN CITY BOX SCORE