YORK, Neb. – The No. 21-ranked Southwestern College men's basketball team entered Wednesday night's tilt at York University in York, Neb. with a chance to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since the first week of January. They did just that in this Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) tilt, leading by as many as 20 points and staving off a second-half push from the Panthers en route to a 92-78 triumph over the home team.

"I loved the production from the bench tonight!", exclaimed head coach Matt O'Brien. "This was a great team win versus a good team."

In the early stages, shades of these two squads' December 3 tilt were in the forefront of the brains of those watching, as York scored seven points on their first three possessions. York led Southwestern at half in Winfield due to a sharpshooting half by their offense to begin the battle, which seemed like it may be the case again on this night. Luckily, the Builders came through with a massive 18-2 run over the next 4:16 of the opening half, which gave them a commanding 23-9 lead with 12:37 to play in the period. The two sides traded brief runs back and forth from that point forward, as a 50-34 lead would be held by the Moundbuilders with one stanza to go. York had to have felt that, in all likelihood, the Builders would come down to Earth in the second half. They hit an otherworldly 20-of-33 from the field in the first frame with a 6-of-12 clip from downtown. Additionally, they held the Panthers to only 12-of-31 shooting after a 3-of-3 start.

After the break, York would conjure a 16-5 run over the first 4:48 of the half. Southwestern was settling for long-range shots and allowing York to get open looks, but then the two sides began to trade buckets until the 8:23 mark, when an 18-8 stretch in the Moundbuilders' favor over the next 6:39 would push their advantage to 90-73 with only 1:44 to play. With the late burst of offense, the SC squad sealed a 92-78 win over the Panthers. The Builders shot 15-of-28 from the field in the second half, which still registers at greater than 50%, and York improved to hit 15-of-31. For Southwestern, their bench contributed 39 points to the effort, including eight of the team's 12 three-point makes.

Five Moundbuilders finished with 10 or more points in the victory, as Cevin Clark led the way with 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting and 3-of-10 from deep. Andrew O'Brien and Jarvis Jennings each had 16 points with 6-of-9 shooting lines. They each made one three-pointer, as well, with three made free throws apiece. Phillip Smith provided 12 points off the bench, having sunk 4-of-5 shots, with all of them coming from three-point land. Finally, Deng Bol was an efficient 5-of-7 with 11 points.

"Jarvis Jennings and Phillip Smith scored the ball well for us off the bench," stated O'Brien.

O'Brien distributed seven assists in the game as the leader for SC, while Trey White added four of his own, which is a season-high for him in a single game. Bol, Cooper Pierce and Trey Abasolo each contributed two assists to the team's efforts.

O'Brien's eight boards were also a team-high mark, while the efforts of White, Pierce and Zach Hidalgo would not go unnoticed. They each had six backboards in the tilt. Jennings had four, while both Smith and Clark added a pair of rebounds.

"Trey White was very active on the boards all game," declared O'Brien.

Southwestern had just two steals in the battle, with Bol and Pierce each earning the credit for one apiece. Hidalgo and O'Brien were both credited with a blocked shot in the win, as well.

"This is a great time for us to start playing our best basketball," opined O'Brien.

The Moundbuilders (19-5, 13-5 KCAC) will now have a week off before their next tilt with the McPherson College Bulldogs in McPherson, Kan. at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8. The battle will precede the squad's Senior Day battle against the Bethany College Swedes on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. inside Stewart Field House, before two more road battles to end the regular season.

--buildersports.com--