Jay Daubenberger
With the new year now here, the Seward County Saints men’s basketball team looked to bounce back after a rough end to 2023 as they made the trip down the road towards Garden City to take on the Broncbusters where unfortunately the Saints could not overcome the Broncbusters offensive onslaught as SCCC fell 102-83 to open 2024.
Seward County opened the game with a quick lead off of a converted and-one opportunity from Nathan Jones and a knock down three by Carson Bennett to push ahead 8-4 three minutes in. Their lead was short lived however as Garden City stormed back with a 16-2 run before a debuting Ryle Riddlespurger knocked down his first three as a Saint to put the score at 20-10 as Seawrd County looked to try and climb back from the hole they were dug into. An alley-oop score from Blessin Kimble off an assist from fellow sophomore Jaden Martin helped close the gap to three at 24-21 and two long-range threes by Amir Whitlock helped keep the Saints within range as the Broncbusters advantage was taken down to 34-31 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Bennett called glass for a banked in three that helped the Saints remain within reach down the stretch, but a quick Garden City run grew Seward County’s deficit back to nine before Mathias M’madi connected with Martin on a baseline drive for a powerhouse dunk that put SCCC down only seven heading into halftime with the Broncbusters leading 53-46.
Garden City extended their lead out to double figures in the opening minutes of the second half off a 10-5 run to go up 63-51 but a big three-pointer by Riddlespurger helped the Saints climb back and cut the deficit to nine at 68-59. Another big 13-4 run by the Broncbusters ended up pushing the game out of reach for good as SCCC had to climb out of an 81-63-point hole. Riddlespurger continued his hot shooting debut with another triple to spark a late Saint’s run that saw M’madi and Whitlock each score off fast break layups to once again bring the Garden City lead to single digits again, but as always the Broncbusters answered with a run of their own and ended the night on an 18-10 run that handed Seward County their fifth straight loss.
Five Saints reached double figures led by Whitlock who had 19 points on 7/11 shooting while Riddlespurger ended with 16 points off five made threes in his SCCC debut. Also reaching the 10+ scoring mark was M’madi (13), Kimble (12), and Bennett (11).
Seward County falls to 3-10 on the 2023-24 season while falling to a 1-6 record in conference action. They will turn around quickly as they head back to the Green House to prepare for a home matchup against Dodge City on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 PM against the Conquistadors.
