Davis’ Career High Not Enough to Push Saints to Victory

LIBERAL, Kan. – The Seward County men’s basketball team fell short in overtime against the Garden City Broncbusters inside the Greenhouse on Saturday night. The loss drops the Saints to 11-6 overall and 7-6 in the Jayhawk conference.

Down 4-3 to start the game, Ke’Sean Davis drilled a three to start an 8-0 run by the Saints over the next two minutes to put Seward up 11-4, with Isiah Small ending the run with two free-throws. The Broncbusters came storming back, going on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one point with 13 minutes to play.

After the media timeout, Garden City hit a jumper to take a 20-19 lead, but Terrell Alfred hit a corner three to end the half on a 16-7 run to take a commanding 35-27 lead into the break.

Seward County shot 41.7 percent (10 of 24) from the floor and hit 10 of their 11 free throw attempts. The Broncbusters were held to 36.7 percent from the field, while going 4 of 14 from deep and only shot two attempts from the charity stripe.

Neither team could get the momentum they needed until, down nine points, the Broncbusters hit a three to start a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to two points with 13:45 to play. The Saints answered with a 9-2 run to get their lead but up to seven, but another 7-0 run by Garden City tied the game at the media timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the Broncbusters hit a three to take the lead. Garden City would hold onto the lead until Hegel Augustin hit a three from the top of the key to tie it at 59 with 1:46 to play. Neither team scored the remainder of the half, with Devin Bethely’s floater attempt coming up short at the buzzer, pushing the game to overtime tied at 59.

In overtime, the Broncbusters took control of the game, making a jump shot on their first possession to take the lead, one they wouldn’t give up. Augustin hit a free throw with 3:04 to play to make the score 63-60, but those would be the only points Seward would score in the extra time, with Garden City winning 68-60. Seward went the final seven minutes without scoring a field goal, ultimately being the difference maker.

The Saints shot just 29.5 percent (18 of 61) from the floor and 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from behind the arc. The Broncbusters finished the game hitting 25 of 65 attempts (38.5%) from the floor and 8 of 29 (27.6%) from deep.

Ke’Sean Davis scored a career-high and led all scorers with 21 points. Augustin was the only other Saint to reach double-figures, finishing with 11 points.

The Saints will begin a two-game road stretch, starting with a game against Hutchinson at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 17). Hutchinson will live-stream the game and it can be heard on 107.5 KSCB with Brock Kappelmann (pxp) on the call.

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Ian Applegate