First Half Hinders Seward at No. 17 Barton

GREAT BEND, Kan. – A slow start proved too much to overcome for the Seward County Saints in a 96-80 loss to the No. 17-ranked Barton Cougars at Fleske Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

Seward trailed 38-20 at halftime before the Saints tripled their output in the second half, outscoring Barton 60-58.

The Saints (17-11, 12-10 KJCCC) have now dropped six straight road games, while Barton extended its winning streak to nine to move into first place in the Jayhawk Conference standings.

Free throws were the decisive factor. Barton converted 51 of 57 attempts (89.5%), while Seward went 21 of 31 (67.6%). The Saints shot better from the field at 38.5% (25 of 65) compared to Barton's 33.3% (20 of 60) and also held a slight edge from three-point range, 9 of 32 (28%) to 5 of 19 (26.3%).

Rebounding was nearly even, with Barton holding a narrow 42-41 advantage. Seward's 17 turnovers proved costly, leading to additional scoring opportunities for the Cougars, who committed 10.

Korbin Dowdell paced Seward with 14 points and six rebounds. Lyna Brooks Jr. added 12 points and six boards, JJ Chapman scored 10 points with five rebounds, and RJ McKinnie finished with 11 points.

Barton was led by Sebastian Muchitsch with 19 points, going a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Noah Williams recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 12 for 12 at the stripe.

A Brooks Jr. 3-pointer five minutes into the game gave Seward its largest lead at 9-5. Barton responded and took the lead for good at 14-13 on a pair of free throws by Brian Sullivan Jr. with 11:03 remaining in the first half. The Cougars led by as many as 19 before taking a 38-20 advantage into the break as Seward shot just 5 of 28 (17.9%) in the opening half.

Barton pushed its lead to as many as 22 late in the second half before Seward closed the gap to 14 but could get no closer.

Seward returns home Saturday to host Cowley at 4 p.m. on Homecoming.