Stevenson's Big Night Not Enough Again Against #11 Hutch

For the second time in three weeks, Seward County's Niem Stevenson went off against the red hot #11 Hutchinson Blue Dragons.  Also for the second time in three weeks, the Saints allowed big second half numbers to the Dragons and Hutchinson came away with a nip and tuck win, scoring with 2.6 seconds left to knock off Seward 87-85, handing the Saints their second straight loss in the final seconds of the game. 

Whenever the Saints and the Blue Dragons hook up on the hardwood it is a hard fought battle and Wednesday night was no different.  The Saints jumped out to an early lead five minutes in, getting a circus shot from Niem Stevenson to fall to put them on top 11-6.  Hutchinson came right back, getting a three from St. John's signee Bashier Ahmed and then another deuce from the sophomore to give the Dragons a one point advantage.  Stevenson and Ahmed continued to go back and forth at each other, with Stevenson holding the slight edge as he pushed Seward out to a nine point lead with a three as the first half clock ticked under 5:00.  However, as quickly as the Saints built their lead up, a quick Dragon run had it back to a three point game with 1:28 to go in the half.  But the Saints finished the half strong, scoring the final six points of the period to storm into the locker room leading by nine with all of the momentum 44-35. 

Stevenson and Ahmed did the bulk of the scoring for both sides in the half.  Stevenson dropped in 20 first half points for Seward while Ahmed had 19 for the Dragons.  The Saints shot 44% in the half while holding Hutchinson to just 34% from the field. 

With Hutchinson continuing to be unable to put the ball in the basket on the offensive end, the Saints missed a chance to really open the game up early in the second half.  After five minutes passed in the second, the Dragons cut the Seward lead back to just four and seven minutes in, the game was tied up at 57.  A three from Stevenson put the Saints back on top and a wing three from Delwin Young moments later stretched the Seward advantage back to five at 63-58 with 11:55 to go.  As expected though, the high powered Dragons found their stride at the midway point of the half, going on a 10-0 run to not only erase the Saints lead, but to also take a five point lead of their own at 68-63.  The Saints kept battling, running their offense through Stevenson to tie the score back up at 68 two minutes later.  As the score tightened up, the intensity ramped up and with multiple flagrant and technical fouls called on both sides, the two teams paraded back and forth to the free throw line just to see the score stay deadlocked at 76 with under 5:00 remaining.  A quick Seward burst put the Saints on top by four for a short while, but again, Seward couldn't slow Hutchinson down and with 1:49 to go, the Dragons had the score tied for the 12^th time on the night at 85.  Seward got back to back stops against the Dragons in the final minute, but couldn't capitalize on either one as it remained an 85-85 game with 38 seconds left.  The Saints missed a chance to take the lead with under 10 seconds remaining and Hutchinson secured a rebound and called timeout to setup a game winning attempt with 9 seconds to go.  The Dragons raced the ball through the Saints defense with ease, eventually getting a 10 foot look from James Conley who hadn't scored a single point in the first 59:57 of the game and as fate would have it, that shot hit its mark and Seward trailed by two, just as they did Saturday at Cloud County, with less than 3 seconds to go.  Unlike Saturday, Seward wouldn't even get a shot off on Wednesday, turning the ball over into the waiting hands of the Dragons as Hutchinson escaped the Greenhouse with an 87-85 win over the Saints. 

Seward allowed 52 second half points and 52% shooting to the Dragons in the final 20 minutes while Hutchinson outrebounded the Saints by 11 in the second half to finish the game at +134 in that category.  The Saints finished the game shooting 42% overall and cost themselves a chance at the line where they missed 11 second half free throws in the two point loss. 

Stevenson finished the night with a game high 35 points as well as a game high 12 rebounds in the loss.  Delano Jones added 14 for Seward and Charles Beauregard had 14 on a slow shooting, 4-13 night. 

The loss for Seward, their third straight, drops them all the way to 7^th place in the conference standings where they now sit at just 7-7.  Hutchinson keeps pace at the top of the league standings as they improve to 13-3 in conference action. 

The Saints will look to snap their three game skid on Saturday when they host the Barton Cougars on Homecoming night in the Greenhouse.  The Saints and Cougars will tip at approximately 8:10 at the conclusion of Homecoming festivities between games.  Free tickets are available courtesy of Pizza Hut at any of their Liberal locations. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#11 HUTCHINSON BOX SCORE