Alfred Ties 3-Point Record In Loss to No. 13 Hutch

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Seward County men's basketball team couldn't overcome the stifling defense of No. 13 Hutchinson, falling to the Blue Dragons 83-60.  The Blue Dragons forced the Saints into 19 turnovers. The loss dropped Seward to 11-7 overall and 7-7 in the Jayhawk Conference.

The night started off promising for the Saints as Terrell Alfred hit a three on the first two possessions and Ke'Sean Davis added a jump shot to complete the 8-0 run, forcing the Blue Dragons to call a timeout. Hutchinson came out of the timeout on a mission, going on a 9-3 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to one. Two minutes later, Curtin Hollis hit a jump shot to give the Blue Dragons their first lead of the game.

Down 18-15 with 7:35 left in the half, Terrell Alfred tied the game with another three, but that would be the closest the Saints would get to gaining back the lead for the rest of the game. Over the final seven minutes of the half, the Blue Dragons outscored the Saints 21-4 to take a 39-22 lead into the break.

The 22 points were the least amount in the first half of a game this season. The Saints shots just 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from the floor and 30.8 percent (4 of 13) from behind the arc. The Blue Dragons finished the half making 12 of their 29 attempts (41.4%) and shooting 33.3 percent from deep (4 of 12). 

The Saints slowly cut into the lead, until an Alfred three with 13:37 to play cut the deficit to 15 points.  Seward couldn't close the gap any further as the Blue Dragons continued to hit their shots and extend their lead, defeating the Saints 83-60.

Seward improved their shooting in the second half, shooting 43.8 percent (14 of 32) from the floor and 54.5 percent (6 of 11) from deep, but the Blue Dragons connected on 52.9 percent (18 of 34) of their shots.

Sophomore Terrell Alfred came away with a historic performance in the loss, tying the Seward County record with eight made three-pointers in a single game.  He became just the second Saint to achieve the feat, joining Michael Tyree. Alfred made 8 of his 11 three-point attempts, finishing with a game-high 27 points.

Isiah Small was the only other Saint to reach double-figures, finishing with 13 points.  He came one rebound shy of recording his sixth double-double.

The Saints will play one more road game before returning to the Greenhouse, traveling to Butler to take on the Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 20). Butler will live-stream the game and it can be heard on 107.5 KSCB with Keith Anglemyer (pxp) on the call.