Saints upset bid falls short against Red Ravens

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – The second half comeback and upset attempt came up just short for the Seward Saints men's basketball team on Saturday, falling to No. 14 Coffeyville 67-64.

The Saints struggled in the first half, starting off by going down 7-2 in the first two minutes.  The Red Ravens extended their lead to seven at 14-7 at the 11:09 mark. Seward County went down 11 points, the largest of the game at the 5-minute mark.  The deficit would stay at 11 for the remainder of the half, as Seward trailed 39-28 at halftime.

The second half showed a different team for the Saints, as they opened up with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six points.  The good play continued for Seward as Hegel Augustin drilled a three-pointer with 10:47 to cut the Red Raven lead to one point.

The Red Ravens pushed the lead back to six after going on a 9-3 run, before Jordan Mitchell hit a contested layup to make the deficit four at 54-50.  With just under five minutes to play, Ke'Sean Davis took over, tying the game at 56 with a three of his own. The Red Ravens answered by going on a 7-1 run before the Davis ended the run to keep the deficit at four with 1:11 left in the game.

Another three-pointer by Davis cut the lead to two at 64-62 with just 26 seconds left. However, it was too little too late, as the Saints entered foul-mode. Down 66-64 with just three seconds left, Coffeyville went one for two at the charity stripe to give the Saints a chance to tie it up.  A last second half-court heave drilled off the backboard, but missed the hoop, as the Seward fell 67-64.

Seward shot 37.3 percent on the night and shot 28 percent from behind the arc.  The Lady Saints shot better than the Red Ravens, who shot 36.7 percent from the field and 28 percent from the deep, but couldn't come over their 11-point first half deficit.  The Saints were outrebounded for the first time since Barton, 43-38. 

Ke'Sean Davis led the Saints with his first career double-double, scoring 18 points and recording 10 rebounds. Devin Bethely also reached double-figures, scoring 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting.

The Saints will be back in action in the Greenhouse at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 6) when they take on the Allen Red Devils. The game will be free for all fans thanks to our sponsor Great Western Dining and Flooring America.