STERLING, Kan.  —  No. 9-ranked Southwestern College (19-2, 14-2) men's basketball team, on the road, defeated Sterling College (10-11, 6-10), 5-59.

The Warriors kept it within reach for the first half, and for the first 12 minutes, they never let the Builders out of reach, trading leads back and forth.

Late in the first half, with five minutes remaining, Southwestern began to separate themselves, building a 13-point lead to end the first half, 43-40.

Cevin Clark, still the NAIA's top scorer in the nation, led the first half charge with 17 points and finished with 28 points for the game.

Andrew O'Brien grabbed six first half rebounds and finished with a double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Mason Thiessen and Justin DeMaria both had seven points each in the first half.

Sterling had a punch left in the second half, narrowing the gap to within seven points. But Southwestern responded with back-to-back three-pointers, first from DeMaria and then from Wyatt Bell that expanded the lead, ultimately sealing the victory, 85-59.

Zach Hidalgo had 10 paint points and seven rebounds.

Thiessen had 11 points, eight in the paint, and three rebounds.

DeMaria finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

The road win sets the stage for the top two KCAC teams, No. 4 Oklahoma Welseyan and No. 9 Southwestern, to battle for supremacy at historic Stewart Field House on Wednesday, Feb. 7, tip-off at 7pm.