Spartans gain road win
BEATRICE, Neb. — Southwestern overcame an early deficit to control the action in an 82-66 victory Saturday over Southeast (Neb.) Community College.
The Spartans (3-0) trailed 24-15 before rallying for a 44-29 halftime advantage over the Storm, coached by former Red Oak coach Joel Wooton. (Wooton’s wife, Vicki, coaches the Lady Storm team.)
“They came out with a little more intensity than we did,” said Spartan coach Jerry Drymon. “They made some early baskets and got confidence. It was the first time we’ve been down all year, and we just talked about settling down and getting back to rebounding the ball and defending.”
The Spartans seized control of the rebounding and took off from there. Royce Phillips, 6-4 freshman post player from Des Moines East, scored a team-high 18 points for Southwestern.
“Royce played really well for us,” Drymon said.
Four other Spartans scored in double figures, led by 6-2 freshman Kristian Williams. Scoring 12 each were freshman Ryckey Harper and sophomore posts Laurice Ellison and Anthony Davis.
“We went on a big run late in the first half to get up by 15 and did it with a lot of transition layups,” Drymon said. “We did a good job of getting the ball inside in this game. It was a good road win for us.”
Southeast fell to 2-2 for the season.
Southwestern returns home undefeated for a 7 p.m. matchup with Culver-Stockton (Mo.) JV on Wednesday.
SOUTHWESTERN (82) — Royce Phillips 8 0-2 18, Kristian Williams 5 4-5 14, Ryckey Harper 4 0-0 12, Laurice Ellison 4 4-6 12, Anthony Davis 5 2-4 12, Tyler Raasch 1 3-4 8, Chris Santiago 2 0-0 4, Terrance Morgan 0 2-2 2. Totals — 29 13-24 82. 3-point goals — 3 (Harper 2, Raasch 1). Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — Davis.
SOUTHEAST CC (Neb.) (66) — Richard Marion 8 3-3 17, Ty Hill 2 1-4 10, Anthony Calhoun 4 2-3 10, Schyulor Pugh 3 4-9 10, Jay Duncan 3 0-0 6, Ben Cruickshank 3 0-0 6, Berry Cunningham 1 0-0 2, Kellen Peterson 2 0-0 4, Fletcher 0 1-2 1. Totals — 26 11-22 66. 3-point goals — 1 (Hill 1). Team fouls — 20. Fouled out — Jace Fredenburg.
SECC — 29 66
SWCC — 44 82
