LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – Following an exciting 84-81 comeback victory from the jaws of defeat at home on Saturday evening, the No. 11-ranked Southwestern College men's basketball squad journeyed out to Leavenworth, Kan. for another Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) battle on the 2022-23 slate. This time, SC would face off with the University of Saint Mary Spires in a tough place to play on the road. After a rather evenly played opening half, the Moundbuilders pulled away with an outstanding offensive display in the second half to earn a hard-earned 90-74 victory.

"I loved watching our guys work together tonight!" exclaimed head coach Matt O'Brien. "The highlight of the night was seeing so many basketball alumni at the game who commented how much they appreciate how hard our team plays and how they work together. I am thankful for a great team effort going into the break."

The opening half of play was played very evenly, as both teams made 15 field goals in the primary stanza. Southwestern would rush out to a 23-13 lead but then went a bit quiet from the field, allowing Saint Mary to put together a 14-7 stretch in their favor to make it 30-27 for the Builders with just 4:21 left in the first half. The three-point advantage would remain for the rest of the frame, as the teams traded body shots over the final few minutes in the half. The score would end up 43-40 at the intermission. Southwestern's eight made free throws were important in their first half, as they had five more makes than the Spires to help maintain their three-point lead.

Half number two was all Builders, as they put together a 9-0 run to begin the frame. Their otherworldly 20-of-32 (62.5%) shooting clip in the half was one in which only a single player that played in the game for SC did not score a point. The squad's balance on offense was stark, including a total of 34 points in the paint out of their 47 total points scored in the stanza. They were getting to the rim at will throughout the half, setting themselves up for success on offense. They shot only four three-point shots in the period, and put down a pair of them. Overall, they outdueled the Spires by a 47-34 margin over the final 20 minutes of the battle, finishing them off by a final tally of 90-74.

Deng Bol put together another great offensive performance, as he shot 9-of-15 (60%) from the floor. He compiled 21 points in the game to lead the Moundbuilders in scoring. Cooper Pierce concocted a much-awaited breakout night in the bout, hitting on seven out of his 12 shots. He knocked down 2-of-5 from long range, while scoring a total of 18 points against Saint Mary. Additionally, Cevin Clark had a nice night, sinking 6-of-11 from the field. He made just 1-of-2 threes in the game, but hit all four free-throw attempts. His 17 points were the third-highest mark on the team in this tilt. Trey Abasolo also scored in double-figures as the only member off the bench to do so. He poured in 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a 2-of-3 display from beyond the arc.

Andrew O'Brien racked up a team-high eight assists in the game, and was followed by Bol and Clark with four. Additionally, Pierce had three dimes to round out the list of 19 assists by the Moundbuilder offense against the Spires.

O'Brien was also the team leader in boards, gathering 12 of them for the squad. Bol and Phillip Smith were next on the list with six for Southwestern, while Pierce had five and Jarvis Jennings tallied four. Abasolo was the other Builder with multiple rebounds, hauling in two.

Having been credited with the team's lone block, O'Brien was a large part of the team's strong defensive showing inside the paint all game long. Ultimately, Bol, Pierce, Clark, Jennings and Smith were able to steal the orange away from the Spires on one occasion apiece in the win.

"I appreciate our coaching staff putting in extra hours to get our team prepared," continued O'Brien. "I am excited for all of our assistant coaches and players to get a well-deserved break."

Southwestern (7-1, 2-1 KCAC) rode a tremendous second half of play to their second straight KCAC triumph, and will now look ahead to Monday, November 28, when they will play the Sterling College Warriors at 8 p.m. inside Stewart Field House. That battle will be followed by a trip up to Tabor College, where SC will face the Bluejays for the first of two meetings between the two squads in the 2022-23 campaign.

--buildersports.com--