Saints Rebound for First Win of Season

Possibly the worst part about the Seward County Saints double overtime loss to Sunrise Christian Tuesday night was the fact that less than 24 hours later, the guys in green had to lace them up again as they took on Fort Carson Army Base in the second of a back to back Wednesday night in the Greenhouse. While Seward was understandably slow on their feet most of the night, the Saints came up big when they needed to, erasing a late Gorilla lead to collect a 90-73 win to earn their first victory of the 2016-2017 season.

The Saints got off to a slow start Wednesday, scoring just eight points in the first eight minutes of the game to find themselves down early 13-8 to Fort Carson. A three from Jeromie Simmons followed by five straight from Kevin Sims put the Saints back in front midway through the first half, but two straight three’s from the Gorillas pushed Fort Carson back in front 20-16 with 9:35 to go in the period. The Seward deficit grew to seven as the Gorilla zone gave the Saints all kinds of trouble early on, but Seward closed the half on a 21-8 run, turning a seven point hole into a six point lead at the break 43-37. Both teams shot an even 50% in the first half with the Saints taking advantage of eight first half offensive rebounds and the Gorillas taking advantage of 15 Seward first half turnovers to keep the score close.

The teams traded points early in the second before a 7-0 Fort Carson run erased the Saints lead and gave them a 50-48 lead four minutes into the half. Tre Kidd came in off the bench and nailed a big three, hit second of the night to put the Saints back in front and they remained in front until the 10:11 mark when a Gorilla three put Fort Carson back on top 61-59. A strong move at the rim from Spencer Franklin knotted the game back up and a pair of Kevin Sims free throws pushed Seward in front by two. The Saints never trailed again. Seward pushed the tempo for the final seven minutes of action, wearing down a Fort Carson bunch who like them, were playing the second night of a back to back. Five quick ones from Charles Beauregard gave the Saints their first double digit lead of the night with 6:11 remaining and two straight midrange jumpers from Kidd finished the Gorillas off as Seward went on to win 90-73 to earn win number one on the 2016-2017 campaign.

Seward got 22 from Beauregard to lead the way in the win while Sims scored 14 and Kidd had 12 off the Saints bench.

Seward evens their record on the year at 1-1 after two nights of action and will take the floor again on Saturday when On Point Prep comes to the Greenhouse for a 7:00 tip. Free tickets are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor, the Saints Bookstore at their Seward County campus location.

SEWARD COUNTY/FORT CARSON BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20161102_iaid.xml?view=boxscore>

Roy Allen