Spartans sail with balanced attack

The Spartans reached the .500 level at 9-9 with an impressive performance on both ends. Southwestern led 47-31 at halftime, scoring at a higher pace than normal.

Marquealis Edwards led the Spartans with 19 points, including 7-of-8 at the free throw line. Devin Kastrup added 18, Jack Harrison dropped in 15 and guard Delby Halcomb finished with 12.

“We attacked the zone well,” coach Mike Holmes said. “We didn’t settle for shots like we do sometimes against the zone. We were attacking and looking for good opportunities. We were bigger than them and got a lot of things around the rim.”

The attacking style gave Southwestern a 17-9 scoring advantage at the line, going 17-22 for the game. Edwards, the team’s all-region sophomore guard, had a good overall game, Holmes said.

“Marquealis was solid in the press break, on the defensive end, on the boards as well as giving us however many points,” Holmes said. “He did all the intangibles. I thought our bigs played nice inside. Delby Halcomb got into the seams of the zone.”

The Spartan coach is looking for a similar performance Saturday in a 3 p.m. tipoff against Kirkwood (11-9 overall, 3-2 conference). Southwestern is also 3-2 in league play, with both teams currently a game in front of 14th ranked DMACC at 2-3.

League leaders are Ellsworth (3-0) and 10th-ranked Iowa Lakes (5-1).

WILLIAM PENN JV (66) — L. Alexander 8 3-3 23, J. Chappel 9 0-0 23, R. Bell 3 1-3 7, R. McDonald 2 1-3 5, J. Roudabush 1 3-4 5, T. Hill 1 0-0 2, D.J. Norem 0 1-2 1. Totals — 24 9-15 66. 3-point goals — 9 (Chappel 5, Alexander 4). Team fouls — 18. Fouled out  — None.

SOUTHWESTERN (84) — Marquealis Edwards 6 7-8 19, Devin Kastrup 5 3-3 18, Jack Harrison 7 1-2 15, Delby Halcomb 6 0-1 12, Patrick Wright 3 1-2 7, Marcus Littleton 2 2-2 6, Jared Theis 1 3-4 5, Larry Mason 1 0-0 5. Totals — 32 17-22 84. 3-point goals — 1 (Mason 1). Team fouls — 14. Fouled out  — Littleton.