Trey Burnett
LA JUNTA, Colo. – Seward County men’s basketball got its second double digit victory of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Trinidad State College Trojans 83-70 at the McDivitt Center.
Seward (2-0) defeated the Trojans (0-2) who were receiving votes in the NJCAA Division 1 men’s basketball preseason rankings.
“I thought we were a little more comfortable with our assignments on both sides of the floor in game two,” said head coach Austin Downing. “We were able to execute some things and got nearly everyone involved having 11 of 13 guys score.”
The Saints were hot out of the gate, putting up 51 first half points, taking a 51-35 advantage into halftime. Seward ended the half on a 7-0 run over the last 1:42. Sophomore Quincey Kidd hit a corner three off an assist from freshman Korbin Dowdell, Sophomore JJ Chapman put in a lefty hook shot and freshman Bailey Milligan followed up a missed three with a layup with four seconds to go.
“We valued the basketball better and gave ourselves more opportunities to score the ball,” said Downing. “We also rebounded the ball well and took good shots almost the entire night which is why I think we were able to score at the rate we did. ”
Trinidad State outscored Seward 35-32 in the second half but the damage was already done. The Seward lead grew to 19 at 59-40 with 15:19 remaining. Trinidad cut it to 12 at the 10:03 mark and later eight with 2:38 to go but that was as close as they got as sophomore Awit Mamer hit a corner three on the next possession to put Seward up 79-68.
Chapman paced Seward finishing with 16 points on 8-11 shooting, also pulling down nine rebounds. Mamer finished with 13 points and three rebounds, sophomore guard Lyna Brooks Jr. added seven points and seven rebounds and Milligan had nine points and four rebounds. Antonio Williams Jr. totaled eight points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
As a team, Seward shot 50.0% (34-68) and 9-28 (32.1%) from three. The Saints were 6-9 from the free throw line. They outrebounded TSC 40-33 and held the Trojans to just 38.7% from the field and 6-31 (19.4%) from three
“We fixed things that we struggled with in game one, in game two, and you can’t ask for anything more from your group on a day-to-day basis besides a little bit of improvement and I thought the guys did that.”
Seward hosts Friends University JV on Wednesday, Nov. 5th, at 11 a.m. for their home opener. The Saints will welcome the school district’s fifth graders to The Greenhouse for the game which you can watch at SewardSaints.com. Live stats will be available on SewardSaints.com as well with Brock Kappelmann broadcasting the game on KSCB talk radio 1270 and 92.3 FM or online by clicking here.
LA JUNTA, Colo. – In his first game as a head coach, Seward County men’s basketball’s Austin Downing helped guide the Saints to a 77-65 win over the Otero Rattlers at the McDivitt Center on Friday evening.
The win for the Saints (1-0) was their first in a season opener since the 2022-23 season opening win over Trinidad State at The Greenhouse.
“It felt rewarding but at the same time it just made me appreciate how much support I have,” said Downing. “You’re only as good as those you surround yourself with and I feel like I’m around some pretty special human beings on a daily basis. Excited to continue to grow with this group and attack things one day at a time.”
The Saints found a way to get a double-digit road win despite turning the ball over 25 times.
“It was a very sloppy game that our guys found a way to win,” Downing said. “You could absolutely tell that we hadn’t played against anyone else since October 11th. Lots of first game jitters (even on my end) and guys still getting used to one another.”
The first 10 minutes of the first half was full of lead changes. Seward sophomore forward Lucas N’Gombo put in a layup with 13:31 to go to put Seward ahead 9-8. They did not trail again in the game.
Sophomore Quincey Kidd followed that up with his second three of the first half with 12:11 to go putting the Saints ahead 12-8. An emphatic dunk from freshman Antonio Williams Jr. gave the Saints its biggest lead of the half at 29-16 with 7:47 to play. Seward took a 41-32 lead into halftime.
Freshman Bailey Milligan opened the second half with a triple but Otero quickly cut the Seward lead to three with a 9-0 run. Sophomore Lyna Brooks Jr. hit two free throws to stop the bleeding and put Seward ahead 46-41 with 17:21 to go.
Seward turned in an 8-0 run to take a 65-53 lead with eight minutes to play. An N’Gombo layup put Seward ahead 69-59 with six minutes to go and the Saints led by double digits the rest of the way.
N’Gombo and Brooks Jr. each paced the Saints with 16 points with N’Gombo pulling down seven rebounds. Milligan finished with 14 points and five rebounds while redshirt freshman guard Brooks Powers added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. Williams Jr. had eight points four rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Seward shot 39.7% (23-58) from the field and 22.7% (5-22) from distance. The Saints knocked in 78.8% (26-33) of their free throws.
“We managed to have 16 assists but shooting 39% from the field and 22% from three tells us as a unit that we weren’t getting the shots we wanted,” Downing noted.
