WINFIELD, Kan. – The No. 21-ranked Southwestern College men's basketball squad returned to the hardwood on Saturday evening against the Tabor College Bluejays in another Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) matchup that could help the Builders reclaim their winning form. This battle did not always look to be under control for SC, as they led by just a single point with 13 minutes left in the game, but 28 of the game's final 42 points were scored by Southwestern in the 76-61 Moundbuilder victory.

"I am thankful for another great crowd at the fieldhouse," declared head coach Matt O'Brien. "I am so appreciative of all the support of the Winfield community."

The opening half of the battle was a two-part production, as Tabor seemed to be giving it their best shot in the early stages. Southwestern held a slim one-point lead at 21-20 with 6:17 to play in the first, but would lengthen that significantly in the remaining ticks on the clock. A 14-5 run would be manufactured by the Moundbuilders to close out the half, which extended their lead to 10 points at 35-25. Southwestern shot at a particularly impressive 16-of-29 (55.2%) clip in the first 20 minutes, but turned the ball over at a higher than usual rate, giving the basketball away on eight occasions. Luckily, Tabor turned the ball over nine times and shot only 10-of-28 (35.7%) from the field to open play.

Things would change quickly to begin the second half, as SC came out of the locker room and allowed a 14-5 run over the first 4:10 of play in the stanza. The Builder 10-point lead quickly evaporated into just a one-point advantage at 40-39. The score would inflate to 48-47 in the Moundbuilders' favor, and Southwestern promptly pulled away again with an 8-2 run to take a 56-49 lead with half of the period left to go. From that point forward, Southwestern had the battle in hand, as they grew their lead to as many as 18 points at 74-56 with 4:34 on the clock. Additionally, the squad never trailed in the battle, though they were tied and within one point of the Bluejays at several junctures. In the end, SC earned a hard-fought 76-61 win over Tabor. Both teams shot at strikingly similar clips in the second half, as Tabor had a higher percentage at 44.8% (13-of-29), but Southwestern had more made field goals 14-of-33 (42.4%), meaning that they took advantage of their extra opportunities.

The heater that Cevin Clark finds himself on is an impressive one, as he has scored 29 or more points in each of the last three Moundbuilder contests. His 12-of-22 (54.5%) shooting line consisted of seven made three-point bombs and five makes from inside the arc, along with a pair of free-throws. He was the only Moundbuilder to reach double-digits in scoring on Saturday, but Andrew O'Brien reached the nine-point mark with a 4-of-11 (36.4%) display from the field and Trey White came off the bench to score eight points on 3-of-4 (75%) shooting and 2-of-2 from long range.

O'Brien passed out 10 assists in the matchup, leading the squad by a considerable margin. He continues to command the offense beautifully with a strong assist/turnover ratio of 10/3 on this night. Deng Bol was a surprise entry into the assist ranks in this battle, dishing the orange six times to his teammates for scores while taking only two shots in the tilt. Both Trey Abasolo and Cooper Pierce had two assists in the bout.

Pierce led the way with nine backboards for Southwestern, as the duties were quite evenly distributed amongst the roster. Six rebounds from O'Brien, five from Bol, as well as two from five different players (Clark, Abasolo, White, Zach Hidalgo and Phillip Smith), rounded out the list of multiple-rebound contributors.

The Builders swiped the ball eight times in the win, three of those thefts came from O'Brien, and two of them were nabbed by Jarvis Jennings. Clark, White and Pierce each grabbed one steal in the game, as well. Southwestern had four blocks from four different players, as O'Brien, Abasolo, Hidalgo and Pierce sent away Tabor shot attempts.

"Cevin was outstanding tonight in terms of scoring the ball," O'Brien continued. "Cooper was very active on the boards. It is good to win after a long, tough couple of weeks of games."

It was a big win for the Builders (18-5, 12-5 KCAC) to come up with after falling in four of their last six contests. Their next test will come against a middle-of-the-table group in the York University Panthers. The tilt will be played on the road, as will four of the Moundbuilders' final five regular-season bouts. The faceoff in Nebraska will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 as SC looks to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 4 and 7 against Bethel and Friends at home.

--buildersports.com--