LAWRENCE, Kan. — Southwestern College jumped out fast and never looked back Thursday evening, cruising to a 73-49 victory over Benedictine College (Kan.) in their opening game of the Ernie Stevens Jr. Classic at Haskell Indian Nations University.

The Moundbuilders (3-0) stormed ahead to a 10-2 start and built their lead to 28-12 just 10 minutes into the contest. Benedictine responded with a 17-2 run to cut the deficit to one, but Southwestern closed the first half strong with an 11-2 surge to take a 41-31 lead into the locker room.

Carrying that momentum into the second half, the Builders opened on a 9-0 run to extend their advantage. Their largest lead came at 61-36 with eight minutes remaining before head coach Matt O'Brien's squad methodically closed out the game in trademark fashion.

Senior Wyatt Bell once again led the way for Southwestern, scoring 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go with four rebounds and three assists. Junior Evan Barber added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting while matching a team-high seven rebounds and dishing four assists. Fellow junior Zach Hidalgo also grabbed seven boards, while redshirt freshman Reid Jessen and Jesse Ledbetter chipped in eight and seven points, respectively.

The win keeps Southwestern unbeaten through three games to start the 2025–26 season. The Moundbuilders will be back in action Saturday, November 8th, at 2 p.m., taking on Park University (Mo.) in their second contest of the Ernie Stevens Jr. Classic. The matchup will again be played at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence.