December 11, 2005
SAINTS FINISH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE A PERFECT 14-0
The No. 6 Seward County Community College men’s basketball team survived a tough non-conference schedule this season, finishing 14-0 and moving into Jayhawk West competition. The Saints hosted the Pizza Hut Classic this past weekend and defeated Newman University J.V. 107-70, on Friday night and then survived their closest game this season with a 76-74, victory over Frank Phillips College on Saturday night.

The Saints were led this weekend by their pre-season All-American, Adam Tanner. The 6’8” post player from Melbourne , Australia , scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Newman University J.V. and followed that performance with another double-double against Frank Phillips with 21 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Adam Tanner

On Friday night, the Saints (14-0) had Newman under control from the opening tip-off. Seward scored 54 first-half points and scored 53 points in the second half with every Saints player playing in the game. Five Saints scored in double figures including Tanner (19 points), Jerrell Green (17 points), Michael Tyree (14 points), Keith Spencer (13 points) and Brandon Cornwell (10 points). Green set a career-high with 14 assists to also give him a double-double.

The Saints finished the Pizza Hut Classic with a thriller against non-conference opponent, Fran k Phillips College . The Saints fell behind early in the first half with a shaky shooting performance from the field, but then got back in the game to go ahead at half-time with a 35-32 lead.

Seward County held the lead for much of the second-half before Frank Phillips guard, Leslie Delk, hit two three-point baskets in back-to-back possessions to bring the Plainsmen within one point heading into the final minutes of the game.

Michael Tyree

The Saints would then trail by two-points late in the game when Saints three-point specialist, Michael Tyree, hit a go-ahead three point shot with only 16 seconds remaining in the game. Frank Phillips would then commit a costly turnover in the middle of the lane with a steal by Keith Spencer. With the outlet pass from Spencer, Theron Wilson would go the distance of the court and would make one free-throw after being fouled on a dunk attempt. Frank Phillips had one final attempt with less than a second remaining, but was unable to get a shot off with the sound of the horn ending the game and the first half of the season for the Saints.

Against Frank Phillips, Wilson scored 14 points, Green chipped in 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and two three-point buckets.

The SCCC men’s basketball team finishes the non-conference portion of the season with a 14-0 overall record. The last time the Saints finished the first-half of the season with a perfect record was in 1997-1998, when the Saints ended their season with a 35-3 overall record and a No. 3 finish in the NJCAA National Tournament.

BOX SCORES:
Newman University J.V. at. No. 6 Seward County
Frank Phillips College at. No. 6 Seward County