Sewardsaints.com
The Seward Saints continued its gritty play, but it was not enough against No. 15 Butler Community College in a 60-53 road loss on Wednesday.
The Saints dropped to 2-13 in the Jayhawk Conference and 3-17 overall. SCCC travels to play Pratt Saturday at 4 p.m.
Seward was competitive, staying within range in the first half, trailing by as many as six, but managed to only be down 21-20 at the half.
The Saints grabbed a 25-22 lead early in the second half on a Muhammed Jobe three-point play, but the Grizzlies began to rain three-pointers and opened a 39-27 advantage with 12:24 remaining.
Seward did not give up and a pair of Carson Bennett three-pointers powered a 9-0 run and cut the deficit to 43-40 at the 6:35 mark. Butler answered back with another barrage of three-pointers, regaining a double-digit lead, and heading to the win.
Jobe had 15 points and seven rebounds and Benni Kazadi chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Saints, who committed 21 turnovers, leading to 27 points for Butler.
Russell Branch had 12 points off the bench and Devin Kerr had 11 points and six rebounds to lead the Grizzlies, who were 9-fo-26 from three-point range. Butler improved to 11-3 in the conference and 16-4 overall.