Late Surge Sends Saints to Victory Over Indy

LIBERAL, Kan. – A late surge that saw the Seward men outscore Independence 8-3 over the final three minutes was the deciding factor in an 80-72 win over the Pirates at the Greenhouse on Wednesday evening.

Seward (17-10, 12-9 KJCCC) snapped a three-game losing streak with the win after losing two games last week by a combined two points. Independence (14-12, 12-8) has lost four straight. Seward and Indy split the regular season meetings with Independence winning in overtime earlier in January. The Saints are just 2.5 games out of first place with three games to go in the regular season.

The game was tight throughout with 12 lead changes. Seward saw Indy seize a seven-point lead off a 6-0 run to make it 55-48 with 12:24 to go in the second half, Seward's largest deficit of the game.

The Saints battled back however, tying it at 58-58 off a Lucas N'Gombo layup at the 9:16 point. The two teams exchanged leads over the next four minutes, but Seward claimed a 68-67 lead with five minutes to play and never trailed again. Seward's largest lead came off aa JJ Chapman layup with 1:24 to go to make it 78-70.

Indy took a 7-6 lead four minutes into the first half and held the lead all the way through the half until Seward's Brooks Powers hit a near halfcourt buzzer beater to send Seward to half with a 41-40 advantage.

The Seward forwards came up big as the Saints played without guards Korbin Dowdell and Antonio Williams Jr. N'Gombo led all scorers with 23 points shooting 10-10 from the floor and pulling down four rebounds. Chapman finished with 16 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Awit Mamer dished out five assists, Brevyn Coleman and Lyna Brooks Jr. each finished with 11 points, and RJ McKinnie totaled five points, six assists and four rebounds.

Independence was led by Trae Lewis and Sekou Kourouma who each had 17 points.

Despite the win, Seward turned the ball over 20 times compared to Indy's 11. The Saints outrebounded Indy 39-23 and assisted on 22 of their made field goals compared to Independence's nine. Seward outscored Indy 52-28 in the paint.

Seward is off Saturday before returning to action on Wednesday as they travel to Great Bend to take on the Barton Cougars at 7:30 p.m.