Saints Mauled by Grizzlies in El Dorado
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College | 28 | 37 | 65 |
|
Butler Community College | 53 | 50 | 103 |
The old saying goes 'what starts well, ends well'. Well, suppose then the opposite is the case and that is what the Seward County Saints endured Wednesday night in the Power Plant in El Dorado as they took on the Butler Grizzlies in Jayhawk Conference action. Seward found themselves in an 11-0 hole before they scored their first basket and gave up 50 plus points in each half as they were steamrolled by the Grizzlies 103-65 to fall to 0-2 in conference play on the year.
It wasn't exactly the start the Saints were looking for Wednesday night as through their first seven possessions of the game, they were 0-4 shooting the ball and had three turnovers. Butler on the other hand, started quite well, scoring on four of their first five possessions of the night to open up an 11-0 lead to get things going. Seward didn't get on the board until nearly the 16:00 mark when Tre Kidd scored and was fouled to make it 11-3, but the Saints deficit continued to grow until it reached 21-7 as the game approached the 12 minute mark. Charles Beauregard led the Saints on a 13-2 push to draw back to within three with 8:28 left in the half, but a Grizzly three got the momentum back on the side of Butler and the Grizzlies outscored Seward by 20 over the final eight and a half minutes to roar into the half with a 53-28 lead.
Seward turned the ball over 15 times in the first 20 minutes and watched as Butler shot 56% from the field. Three Grizzlies scored in double figures in the half while Beauregard was the only Saint with more than five points in the period.
The Saints scored on their first two trips down the floor to begin the second half and it looked like they might have a little bit of fight left in them, but that quickly changed as Butler's Will Alder banged home back to back threes to lead the Grizzlies on a 15-5 run to balloon the Butler lead all the way to 33 at 70-37. The Saints never recovered as Butler continued to pour it on them in their home building, eventually coming away with a 103-65 victory to send Seward to 0-2 in Jayhawk Conference play.
There was nothing to write home about for Seward on the stat sheet at the end of the night as the Saints shot 41% from the field, but just 20% from the three point line while turning the ball over 27 times, leading to 41 Grizzly points. Butler on the other hand shot 54% from the field against the Saints defense while racking up 26 assists on 38 made baskets. Beauregard was the only Saints starter to reach double figures in scoring as he finished with 20 while Deionta Nunnally came off the Seward bench to pitch in 10.
Seward drops its second straight to fall to 3-3 overall and 0-2 on conference play on the year while Butler bounces back from their beating against Garden City with a win to improve to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in Jayhawk action.
The Saints return to the court on Saturday night at home in the Greenhouse when they welcome in Cloud County for an 8:00 tip. Free tickets are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor Conestoga at their Liberal location or at Pizza Hut and Hutch's in Liberal.