Sewardsaints.com
HUTCHINSON – Through three conference games, the Seward men's scoring defense was the best in the league as they looked towards a road test at Hutchinson.
That stayed true Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena as Seward (7-3, 2-2 KJCCC) held Hutch (6-4, 1-3) to a season-low 48 points in a 53-48 win. It marks Seward's first win over Hutchinson in 12 games. The last win over the Blue Dragons came in the 2019 Region VI Championship, an 81-76 Seward win in Park City.
Despite Hutchinson shooting better from the floor – 46.7% (21-45) to 34.0% (18-53) – Seward knocked in 11 threes (11-24) to Hutchinson's three (3-17) to help earn the road win.
RJ McKinnie led Seward with 14 points knocking down four threes. He also added five rebounds and three assists. Lucas N'Gombo finished with nine points and seven rebounds while Bailey Milligan had seven points and five rebounds. Brevyn Coleman hit two threes in the second half.
Bobby Cannon led all scorers with 19 points for Hutch.
Seward outrebounded Hutch 32-25, including 15 offensive rebounds which is their second-best mark of the season. The Saints had 15 turnovers and Hutchinson had 16.
The teams traded leads for the first five minutes of the game. Hutchinson's biggest lead of the game came at the 12:25 mark when a Chudier Dorar layup made it 13-8. They led until a Quincey Kidd three with 6:56 to go put Seward in front 19-18. The lead changed hands a few more times but a JJ Chapman layup and Milligan layup were the only points over the final two minutes and sent Seward to halftime with a 26-23 lead.
Seward did not trail in the second half. McKinnie scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and hit a triple just a minute and a half in to put Seward ahead 29-25. Each time the Dragons got close, Seward had an answer. N'Gombo put in a layup after Hutch cut it to one at 32-31 and later Milligan drilled a three with the lead again at one to make it 37-33.
Coleman and Awit Mamer hit threes two minutes apart to make it 46-37 Seward with 7:15 to play but a Cannon dunk stopped the run momentarily. McKinnie hit his third three of the half at the 5:34 mark to push Seward's lead to 10, their largest.
Hutchinson then used a 9-0 run from 4:17 to 59 seconds to make it a one-point Seward lead, 49-48. The Saints then forced a turnover and N'Gombo hit a pair of free throws to make it 51-48. The Saints got another defensive stop and N'Gombo grabbed the rebound before head coach Austin Downing called a timeout. McKinnie was fouled out of the timeout and made both free throws with seven seconds left to ice the game.
The Saints travel to Pratt Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
