Sims 26 Lifts Seward Over #25 Barton

Oh what a difference a couple of weeks made for the Seward County Saints Saturday night in the Greenhouse as the guys in green rebounded from a 25 point defeat at the hands of #25 Barton just two weeks ago, to take down the Cougars 89-76 in rather easy fashion in front of their home crowd to climb back to .500 on the season at 11-11.

Following their first home defeat in three seasons Wednesday against Hutchinson, the Saints didn’t get off to the start they wanted to Saturday night against Barton as the Cougars raced out to a 7-0 lead before Seward picked up its first field goal of the game 4:15 in to cut it to a 7-3 Barton lead. The three from Tyreke Sharp got the Saints going and Seward outscored Barton 12-3 over the next three minutes to grab their first lead of the game 12-10 over the visitors from Great Bend. After Barton tied the score back up at 15, Seward picked up some steam again, getting a bucket at the rim from Nick Singleton and a three pointer later on by Kevin Sims to open up a seven point lead. For the most part, Seward held Barton in check for the last part of the first half, holding a six point lead until the final seconds when Sharp scored on a drive to the hole to give them a 40-32 lead at the half.

Seward shot 48% in the first period while keeping Barton to just 44% and forcing 11 Cougar turnovers. Sims led the Saints with 12 first half points on 3 of 6 shooting, all 3 of his makes from three point land.

The Saints quickly pushed their lead to double digits as the second half began and Seward remained in front by 10 at the 14:26 mark as Sims got to the free throw line and knocked down a pair from the charity stripe. It was a 12 point Seward County lead when the Cougars went ice cold and the Saints got red hot. From the 13:02 mark of the second half to the 9:14 mark, the Saints outscored Barton 13-1, turning a 12 point lead into a 24 point advantage in a matter of moments. It was sophomore Evan Allen leading the charge for Seward in the run, scoring seven of the 13 Saint points during the stretch as Seward had Barton on their heels reeling in the Greenhouse. The high powered Cougars flipped their switch back on, making things interesting later in the game, but in the end there was not enough clock for a Barton miracle comeback as the Saints held the Cougars off 89-76 to earn their first win over a ranked opponent this season.

The Saints flipped the script on Barton in the win as Seward’s last ranked scoring offense put up 89 points on 52% shooting on the night while Barton’s top ranked offense managed just 76 points on 40% shooting, a season worst for the Cougars. Following games of just 3 and 5 points against Butler and Hutchinson, Sims exploded back onto the scene Saturday night, scoring a career high 26 points for the Saints, capitalizing on 17 trips to the free throw line in the contest. Singleton had himself a nice night as well, scoring 16 on 7 of 14 shooting hwile also picking up 7 rebounds. Sharp continues to be a shot in the Saints offensive arm as he scored 12 on 4 of 6 from the field and is now shooting 56% from the three point line in conference play after a 2 for 3 performance Saturday.

Seward gets back to .500 at an even 11-11 on the year with the win over the Cougars while improving their Jayhawk West record to 4-5. Barton drops back to back contests for the first time this season, falling to 18-5 overall and 6-3 in league action.

The Saints will hit the floor again on Wednesday when they make the trip to Northwest Kansas and the Colby Community Building where they will take on a Trojan team on their heels in the conference standings.

SEWARD COUNTY/#25 BARTON BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/boxscores/20150131_otni.xml>

Roy Allen