OTTAWA, Kan. – After an action-packed Wednesday night shootout between the No. 4-ranked Moundbuilder men's basketball team and No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan in which Southwestern fell for the third time this season, the Builders headed out on the road to face the Braves of Ottawa University in another Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) battle. It was a struggle for the Moundbuilder offense to put together any sort of sustained scoring on Saturday, as they ended up falling in an eerily similar fashion to Wednesday's battle, failing to score on the game's last possession. Southwestern would suffer a two-point loss yet again in the 74-72 defeat against Ottawa.

"This has been a tough week for us losing two games that came down to the last possession," said head coach Matt O'Brien.

The opening half was one where neither side could distance themselves from the opposition, as the seven-point SC lead was the largest advantage of the half. The Braves quickly erased that lead, though, and ended up taking a 36-34 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Builders mightily struggled from the field, hitting only 12-of-38 in the first frame. Meanwhile, Ottawa took seven fewer shots and hit on two more attempts than the Builders. Southwestern's offensive rebounding set them up for second-chance points, which helped even out the score at the intermission. They had 10 offensive rebounds and led the rebounding tally 24-21, overall.

Moundbuilder offensive issues would remain a fixture of this battle for most of the second half, as well. The Builders allowed Ottawa to stretch their lead to as many as 10 points at 63-53 with 8:44 left to be played, pushing themselves to the brink. Promptly, Southwestern concocted a 13-0 run over the next 5:11, which put them back in front 66-63. But the Braves were not done, as they scored 11 of the next 17 points in the game to lead 74-72 with 13 seconds left to play. The Moundbuilders had the final possession, and after a litany of stoppages, turned the ball over as time expired to fall to Ottawa. A 12-of-30 showing from the field in the second half put the Builders at just 35.3% (24-of-68) shooting for the game, while the Braves were a strong 47.5% (29-of-61).

No Moundbuilder who took more than five shots in the bout was able to connect on 50% or more of their attempts, but Jarvis Jennings led the Moundbuilders with 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He also rained down eight of his nine tries from the free-throw line, which greatly contributed to his offensive numbers. Cevin Clark managed 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while he failed to hit a three-pointer on six attempts. Cooper Pierce tallied 13 points on 5-of-16 from the field, and he drilled three threes out of nine heaves from beyond the arc. Deng Bol took just five shots in the game, but scored 10 points on 3-of-5 from the floor.

Jennings was also the team-leader in assists, tallying three in the battle. It was not the prototypical day for Andrew O'Brien, who had only two dimes, and Clark and Trey Abasolo tied his output with two each.

Pierce led the squad with nine backboards in the loss, while seven of those came on the offensive end of the floor. O'Brien tallied seven boards, Bol added six, Clark contributed five and Jennings grabbed four rebounds. Abasolo and Phillip Smith reeled in three boards each, and Zach Hidalgo nabbed two rebounds.

Southwestern had three steals in the tilt, with Abasolo leading the way with a pair of thefts. The remaining swipe came from Pierce. Pierce was the lone shot blocker for the Builders, rejecting two Ottawa shot attempts in the battle.

"We have to be ready to bounce back quickly with a game coming up Monday and three games next week," declared O'Brien.

Much of the coming week will pose a challenge to the Builders (16-4, 10-4 KCAC), who entered this week as a top-five team nationally. Southwestern will look to right the ship against the University of Saint Mary Spires on Monday evening at 7 p.m. inside Stewart Field House. Following that test, the Moundbuilders will journey up to Sterling, Kan. on Thursday for a bout with the Warriors of Sterling College at 8 p.m. Finally, SC will fight it out at home on Saturday against the Tabor College Bluejays at 6 p.m.

--buildersports.com--