Saints Slay Dragons in Hutchinson

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – For just the seventh time in program history, the No. 15 Seward County men’s basketball team defeating the No. 13 Hutchinson Blue Dragons in Hutchinson, winning 87-79. Seward now has a two-game lead in the Jayhawk West.

The Saints were feeling it offensively early on. Montrevion Flowers<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/flowers_montrevion_k5ya> drilled a three on the first possession while going on a 19-4 run to start the game. After a lackluster defensive effort three days ago, Seward’s defense didn’t give up a single field goal over the first five minutes of play. Devin Bethely<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/bethely_devin_h9z9> was unconscious during the first ten minutes of play, scoring 12 minutes as the Saints took a 30-14 lead at the media timeout.

Bethely continued to score coming out of the break, helping the Saints maintain their substantial lead. After taking a 19-point lead, the Blue Dragons did all they could to get back into the game before halftime, but a step back three by Flowers before the buzzer kept the lead at 15 by a score of 45-30.

After a brief run by the Blue Dragons, Qaiyoom Olanlege scored on back-to-back possessions to keep the Saints up 15 points, forcing a Hutchinson timeout. Two technicals and an ejection on a Hutchinson player before the media timeout gave Seward three free throws and a 65-49 lead. Moments later, Marco Morency<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/morency_marco_0jne> drilled an open three from the corner to make it a 19-point game again. That lead quickly dwindled to 11 points as the Blue Dragons went on an 8-0 run to make it 68-57 with 9:02 to play.

Hutch continued their run coming out of the break, trimming the lead to eight points before Flowers was able to end the run with a triple from the corner to put Seward back up double-digits. Another run by the Blue Dragons made it a seven-point game and forced a Seward timeout. The Blue Dragons continued to get baskets to fall while the Saints began to go on a scoring drought, allowing Hutchinson to cut the lead to just two points.

After two missed free throws by the Blue Dragons, the Saints took advantage with a Devin Bethely<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/bethely_devin_h9z9> jumper, followed by a Flowers steal and Small put back. to make it a six-point game with under six minutes to play. Seward managed to hold off the Blue Dragons, making free throws down the stretch to win the game 87-79.

Seward shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the floor and 40.9 percent (9-for-22) from behind the arc. Hutchinson shot 51 percent (26-for-51) from the field, but made went just 3-for-11 (27.3%) from deep. There were 72 combined free throws between the two teams with Seward making 73.3 percent (22-for-30) of theirs and Hutchinson shooting 57.1 percent (24-for-42) from the charity stripe.

Devin Bethely<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/bethely_devin_h9z9> led the Saints with 23 points, while Isiah Small<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/small_isiah_0jk1> and Montrevion Flowers<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/bios/flowers_montrevion_k5ya> each added 15 points.

Seward will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Garden City at 8:00 p.m. in the Greenhouse. Tickets are available for free thanks to our sponsor Best Western Plus and Flooring America.  The game airs on 107.5 and kscbnews.net.