Phil Lee

LIBERAL, Kan. – The Seward County Community College men’s basketball team played hard, but fell to the No. 18 Barton Community College Cougars, 80-70, on Wednesday at the Greenhouse.

The Saints fell to 1-5 in the Jayhawk Conference and 2-9 overall. Seward caps its first-half schedule with a game against Fort Hays Tech Northwest at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Greenhouse.

Seward could not capitalize on its momentum from Saturday’s overtime win at Dodge City. Once again, it was an all too familiar story for the Saints, who were competitive, but fell short. Seward trailed early and were down, 39-30, at the half. SCCC would go on a run in the second half and close the gap to within one, but only to fade at the end.

Taky Prosper had 14 points, Kiku Parker added 13 points and Dekwon Brown scored 11 points to pace Seward, which had nine players with points.

Aris Rodriguez had a game-high 21 points and Brent Moss added 17 points for the Cougars, who had four players in double-figure scoring. Barton, which snapped a three-game losing streak, are 4-3 in conference play and 9-3 overall.

Seward hosts Fort Hays Tech Saturday at 4pm with Saints Shoot-around at 3:45 on 107.5.  Saturday is the Saints Toy Drive and admission will be free with a new toy which will be donated to local agencies.