WINFIELD, Kan. – Southwestern College's No. 11-ranked men's basketball team was back at home on Saturday evening for the first home tilt of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) season. The Builders had the Ottawa University Braves in town to do battle this time around, as things looked grim for SC for the majority of the second half of this game. Luckily, a comeback from nine points down with just under four minutes left resulted in an 84-81 win over OU on the Moundbuilders' home court.

"I am very thankful to come out of this game with a win," said head coach Matt O'Brien. "I'm proud of our group for sticking together when things were not going well."

It was about as evenly played a half as there could possibly be in the opening frame. Ottawa and Southwestern traded blows for the entirety of the first half and actually sported the exact same shooting clips from the field at 16-of-32 (50%). The free-throw line made the ultimate difference in the first half, as SC struggled to hit from there at 2-of-6. The Braves capitalized with a 5-of-8 showing to hold a 39-37 lead entering the intermission.

Half number two was a crazy ride, as Ottawa was able to incrementally increase their advantage to nine points at 62-53 with 8:01 to play in the stanza. Immediately after an ensuing Builder timeout, SC scored 14 of the next 16 points in the bout to take a 67-64 lead with only 3:50 remaining. The Braves would quickly respond with a three-point play to tie the matchup back up at 67, and briefly take a one-point advantage at 70-69 with 2:49 to go. That, though, would be the only lead that Ottawa would have for the rest of the battle. Southwestern scored six out of the next seven points to go up 76-71 with just under 1:30 left, putting the Braves backs against the wall. They gave it a strong effort, getting back to within one at 82-81 with seven seconds left, but two free throws for SC and a missed buzzer-beater to tie the game by Ottawa gave the Moundbuilders a 84-81 triumph. A total of 17 made free throws from the Builders, compared to just eight by the Braves ended up making the difference in the l;atter stanza of play.

Three players scored in double-figures in the battle for Southwestern, as Jarvis Jennings had a breakout game with 21 points on 8-of-10 (80%) shooting. He added a 4-of-6 showing at the line to boot, while sinking his lone three-point try. Deng Bol had a bounce back game with 19 points on 7-of-14 (50%) from the floor. He sunk all four of his free throws and made 1-of-3 from long range, as well. Cevin Clark, though he was below 50% shooting for the second straight game (6-of-13, 46.2%), poured in 18 points for the Moundbuilders, while putting in a three-point shot and five free throws on six tries.

"It was good to see Jarvis Jennings have a big part of the success in the second half," continued O'Brien. "He really gave us a lift with his inside scoring."

Andrew O'Brien continues to be the leading contributor as a playmaker for his teammates. He tallied five assists in this tilt, while only Clark and Trey Abasolo also had multiple dimes, with two.

Bol and Cooper Pierce were the top rebounders for the Builders, compiling eight boards apiece. They were helped out by O'Brien's five backboards and four additional rebounds from Phillip Smith.

Pierce and Abasolo were credited with blocked shots in the matchup, while the squad had a total of five steals from Abraham Rodriguez Jr. (2), Bol (1), O'Brien (1) and Pierce (1).

It was impressive to see the fortitude shown by the Moundbuilders (6-1, 1-1 KCAC) in this battle, as they came off of a disappointing loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan on Wednesday. It would have been easy to slide into this bout after a letdown on the road and take a second straight loss, but Southwestern would not allow that to happen on this night. Next on the slate is a battle in Leavenworth, Kan. on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 p.m. against the University of Saint Mary Spires.

--buildersports.com--