Late Comeback Comes Up Short for Saints at No. 21 Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Seward Saints late flurry of buckets was not enough as they fell 79-77 at No. 21 ranked Dodge City on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 74-65 with 1:47 to play, Seward was not done playing. Antonio Williams Jr. and Brevyn Coleman each put in a pair of free throws to trim the lead to five. Dodge City used two free throws with 30 seconds to go to push the lead back to seven but RJ McKinnie hit a three on the next Seward possession. Dodge then was fouled again and put in two more free throws but again, McKinnie connected on a triple the next time down to make it 78-75. The Conqs went 1-2 from the line on their next trip down and McKinnie wasted no time driving in for a layup. Just like that, the Saints trailed by two with 12 seconds left.

Following a timeout, Dodge City turned the ball over on the inbounds play as Awit Mamer's defense helped Seward get the ball back with a chance to tie or win. Lucas N'Gombo missed a layup with seven seconds to go but the ball rolled out of bounds on the Conqs. The Saints got another try and Williams Jr. was fed the ball at the top of the key. He drove left and created some separation, putting a floater up, but Dodge City's 7'2" Wesly Rosa shifted over and blocked it as time expired.

Both teams entered the game with 8-3 league records and with the win, Dodge City sits in first place alone at the conclusion of the first go around in the Jayhawk Conference. Seward moves to 13-5, 8-4 in league action. They are tied with Butler for second place. The Saints host Cloud County on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at The Greenhouse. Seward previously lost to Cloud County 85-65 in Concordia on Nov. 19th. The Gould Foundation is the game sponsor and admission is free, no tickets required.

The game saw four ties and eight lead changes. Seward's largest lead, eight, came at the 11:43 mark of the second half on a McKinnie three to make it 55-47, his second in a row. Dodge City used a 17-2 run to go ahead 64-57 and their largest lead was the nine point advantage at the 1:47 point of the second half. The Saints led 34-32 at halftime and the first six minutes of the second half were the two teams exchanging leads.

Dodge City opened the game with two threes to take a 6-0 lead. Seward battled back to tie it 6-6 a few minutes later and did not trail by more than three the rest of the half, leading by as much as six. Seward went cold over the final 2:53 of the first half not scoring a point.

McKinnie paced the Saints with 20 points, six rebounds and two assists. He was 4-6 from three and 18 of his points came in the second half. It's McKinnie's second consecutive 20-point game. Williams Jr. also had 20 points while N'Gombo put up 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brevyn Coleman matched his season-high with 10 points.

Dodge City was led by Rickey Loftin and Derrick Rivers who each had 18 points. Loftin added nine rebounds. Wesly Rosa had 13 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks. Brad Johnson finished with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Both teams made eight threes with Seward shooting 8-23 (34.8%) and Dodge 8-20 (40%). Seward was 28-76 (36.8%) from the field while Dodge shot 27-60 (45%). Seward forced 16 turnovers compared to 10 of their own. The Saints shot 13-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line, Dodge City shot 17-24 (70.8%).