Another Sad Semis for the Saints

Seward has been here before. In 1998, 2008, and now 2012 the Saints advanced to the national semifinal of the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson but lost in the round of four. Second ranked Northwest Florida State handed the Saints a 77-64 defeat Friday night in the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Saints face Eastern Oklahoma State for third Saturday night at 6 p.m. on B107.5 and kscbnews.net. Top ranked South Plains hammered the Mountaineers 95-75 in the other semifinal. The 32-1 Raiders lit Seward up from beyond the the three-point stripe hitting 9-21 3’s and 6-12 in the first half helping the guys from Niceville, Florida built a 38-25 halftime lead. Seward would cut the lead to six (48-42) but drew no closer. Seward failed to shoot over 40 percent for a third straight time hitting 39 percent while the Raiders landed 48 percent of their attempts. One of the top JUCO players in the country Chris Jones scored 24 for the Raiders who haven’t lost since January 14 against Pensacola State. Irvin Hollinger led the Saints with 19 points in the loss. Seward is 30-7. Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Game 1: South Plains def. East Mississippi, 71-63 Game 2: Monroe def. Indian Hills, 81-69 Game 3: Eastern Oklahoma St. def. College of Southern Idaho – 76-69 Game 4: Spartanburg Methodist def. Three Rivers, 61-58 Game 5: Columbia State def. Gordon – 72-64 Game 6: Seward County def. Wallace State – 71-52 Wednesday, March 21, 2012 Game 7: Otero def. Wabash Valley – 64-62 Game 8: Northwest Florida St. def. Navarro, 70-62 Game 9: Indian Hills def. East Mississippi – 79-70 Game 10: South Plains def. Monroe – 73-60 Game 11: Eastern Oklahoma St. def. Spartanburg Methodist – 78-70 Thursday, March 22, 2012 Game 12: Southern Idaho def. Three Rivers – 80-70 (OT) Game 13: Wallace State def. Gordon – 67-65 Game 14: Wabash Valley def. Navarro – 66-55 Game 15: Monroe def. Spartanburg Methodist – 67-61 Game 16: Seward County def. Columbia State – 52-45 Game 17: Northwest Florida State def. Otero – 77-71 Friday, March 23, 2012 Game 18: Indian Hills def. Southern Idaho – 92-82 Game 19: Wabash Valley def. Wallace State – 71-62 Game 20: Columbia State def. Otero – 79-67 Game 21: South Plains def. Eastern Oklahoma St. – 95-75 Game 22: Northwest Florida State def. Seward County – 77-64 Saturday, March 24, 2012 Game 23 (7th/8th Place): Indian Hills vs. Wabash Valley – 12 pm Game 24 (5th/6th Place): Monroe vs. Columbia State – 2 pm Game 25 (3rd/4th Place): Eastern Oklahoma vs. Seward County – 6 pm Game 26 (Championship): South Plains vs. Northwest Florida State – 8 pm