Jay Daubenberger
After having to wait an extra day because of intense snow and ice on the roads, the Seward County Saints men’s basketball team finally went out eastward towards El Dorado, Kansas to take on KJCCC rival #11 Butler where despite managing to keep the score within reach, the Saints could not upset the Grizzlies as they fell 61-52 on the road in Jayhawk conference action.
After starting conference action 0-2, the Saints entered today’s matchup with a chip on their shoulder against the highly ranked Grizzlies. Seward County was able to stay right next to them, matching Butler point for point as Blessin Kimble showed his ability to knock down shots when he pulled up for a mid-range jumper and cashed it in to keep the score even at 7-7. SCCC managed to find some room to grow an 11-9 lead of their own and Lovasoa Andriatsarafara wanted to keep it that way as he pinned a Grizzlies’ shot on the backboard to keep Butler at bay. However, the Saints’ lead was not unstoppable as the Grizzlies pushed out in front but never out of reach as Amir Whitlock came in off the bench and found Kimble wide open once again for a mid-range shot for two more Seward County points and enter halftime only trailing by three 24-21.
Despite the first half being a defensive battle between the two squads, Butler came out of halftime with eight straight points over the Saints before Carson Bennett was able to finally knock down his first three-pointer of the day to chip away at the Grizzlies lead and put the score at 32-25. Butler responded by increasing their lead to double digits and force a Seward County timeout with SCCC trailing 37-27 and the Grizzlies used their momentum to grow their lead out even further before Kimble finally had enough and slashed his way through his defenders for six straight points and cut the deficit back to nine with Butler only leading 44-35. Whitlock continued where he left off from his last game and found his range from deep again as he knocked down a three from NBA range to cut it to five 50-45, but Seward County could not complete the comeback as they fell to #11 Butler 61-52.
Whitlock once again scored a career high, recording 18 points on 6/9 shooting from the field while Kimble scored 16 points of his own. The Saints now fall to 2-5 on the 2023-24 season and now fall to 0-3 in Jayhawk conference action. Seward County now returns back home to Liberal, Kansas for another KJCCC matchup this Wednesday when they face off against Northwest Kansas Tech at 8:00 PM inside of the Green House on 107.5. Pepsi is the buyout sponsor.
