Free Throws the Difference in Overtime Loss at Garden City

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – The Seward County men’s basketball team lost a thriller in overtime at Garden City, losing to the Broncbusters 75-72. The loss puts the Saints as the number eight seed in the Region VI Tournament.

The Saints (17-13, 13-13) fell down early but kept the score close, trailing by two after the first six minutes. The Broncbusters went on a 12-6 run over the next four minutes to take an eight-point lead, 21-13. Karel Trunecek kick started a 13-0 run for the Saints as they took their first lead of the game with a Terrell Alfred three-pointer, 26-21.

Julian Santamaria hit a three-pointer to give the Saints a seven-point lead with five minutes to play in the half. The Broncbusters responded by ended the half on a 12-4 run to take a one-point lead into halftime, 34-33. Seward didn’t hit a field goal in the final three minutes of play.

Seward shot 50 percent in the first half, connecting on 13 of 26 from the floor, while holding the Broncbusters to just 37.5 percent (9 of 24) from the floor.

Hegel Augustin connected on a contested layup right out of the gate to take the lead, but it was short lived, as the Broncbusters drilled a three on the next possession to retake the lead. Garden City went on a 12-0 run as the Saints failed to hit a field goal for nearly six minutes. Alfred ended the run with a layup to make the score 52-42 at the media timeout.

The Alfred layup sparked a 10-0 run as the Saints closed the gap to just two points with 7:37 to play. With under three minutes to play, back-to-back threes by Alfred gave the Saints a 60-56 lead. The Saints couldn’t pull ahead any further, as a 5-0 run by the Broncbusters gave Garden a lead just a minute later. A three-point play by Devin Bethely, followed by a steal and finish by Alfred gave the Saints a 65-62 lead with thirty seconds to play, but the Broncbusters connected on a three to force overtime.

The Saints had to wait until overtime to reach the bonus, but Seward couldn’t connect on their lone free throw attempt, while Garden hit five of their eight attempts in overtime. Seward had a shot to tie the game on the final possession but could not get a shot up, losing 75-72.

The deciding factor in the game was the free throw advantage with the Saints going 4 of 7 from the charity stripe and the Broncbusters hitting 25 of 35 from the free throw line.

Three Saints scored in double figures – Terrell Alfred (19 pts), Karel Trunecek (14 pts) and Devin Bethely (11 pts).

The Saints will host the Butler Grizzlies at 7:00 p.m. in the Greenhouse on Thursday (March 1) for the first round of the Region VI Tournament.

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Ian Applegate