Saints Fall in Rematch at Tonkawa

Jay Daubenberger

After falling to Northern Oklahoma Tonkawa in their 2023-24 season opener inside of the Green House November 1, the Seward County Saints men’s basketball team made the trip into enemy territory Tuesday night to take on the Mavericks in a rematch where despite keeping the score close through the first half, the Saints could not hold on as they fell 80-55 on the road.

Seward County started the rematch off strong with a 7-0 lead in the first few minutes of action before Tonkawa was able to bounce back and retake the advantage in a back-and-forth first twenty minutes where the lead changes five times before entering the halftime break down 31-29. Blessin Kimble and Dave Olaniyi each created one man scoring runs for the Saints with both players recording eight straight points in separate parts of the first half.

Following the break, Seward County was able to come out with two quick baskets to lock the game up at 33-33 before disaster struck and the Mavericks went on a 25-8 run to push their lead farther away with the Saints never able to recover. Kimble was able to use his court vision to find Nathan Jones on the fast break for a big man slam to keep the score within single digits at 46-37 but the deficit never got smaller for SCCC with the Mavericks outscoring the Saints time and time again. The one consistent spark for Seward County in the second half was the man in the middle: Lovasoa Andriatsarafara who scored 20 points in just the second half. The seven-footer used his length to grab multiple offensive rebounds for put backs and Kimble once again used his playmaking skills to find Andriatsarafara open for a posterizing dunk. However, it was not enough to bounce back against the lead that Tonkawa grew as the Saints fell to the Mavericks for the second time this season 80-55.

Andriatsarafara led SCCC in scoring with 20 points that were all scored in the second half while Kimble added on 12 points and Carson Bennett chipped in 11.

The Saints now fall to a 3-8 overall record and still remain at 1-5 in conference action in the KJCCC. Seward County will remain out on the road as they head towards #12 Indian Hills for a 7:00 PM tip-off on Thursday to finish out the 2023 calendar year.