Free throw shooting helps Spartan men rout Clinton
The Southwestern men broke out of a season-long free throw shooting slump in a big way Saturday, converting 24-of-28 attempts in beating Clinton Community College, 107-73.
“Hopefully that starts a trend for us,” said Southwestern coach Jerry Drymon.
The Spartans led 50-30 at halftime, and followed up with a 57-point second half. The game was in stark contrast to an overtime win at Clinton earlier in the season.
“We showed up with more intensity and focus Saturday,” Drymon said. “We were just crisper and sharper in terms of trying to attack them. We had a lot of fast breaks. We were getting stops, rebounding the ball and pushing it out on the break.”
Tyler Raasch led five players in double figures for the Spartans with 19 points, including one 3-pointer. Royce Phillips, Anthony Davis and Laurice Ellison controlled the inside with a combined 48 points. Phillips went 6-of-6 at the free throw line and guard Terrance Morgan was 4-4 in a 9-point effort.
Freshman wing player Ryckey Harper added 16 points.
Morgan made a successful return after sitting out the Simpson JV game with back spasms.
“It’s nice to have Terrance back because he helps us push the ball,” Drymon said.
Clinton fell to 0-9 in the ICCAC and 4-18 overall. Southwestern improved to 3-4 in the conference and 13-8 overall, setting up an important home game Wednesday against Ellsworth.
Ellsworth is just ahead of the Spartans in the league standings at 3-3, and stands 11-8 overall.
“They have two inside kids that are good, but that’s OK for us because it’s easier for Anthony and Laurice to play against bigger guys than a guard-oriented team,” Drymon said. “They also have a nice point guard.
It’s an opportunity for us to move ahead of them. We have seven conference games left to determine our seeding for the regional.”
CLINTON CC (73) — Elijah Wilson 12 0-3 24, Eric May 6 5-8 18, Clay Weber 5 0-1 13, Hudson 3 1-3 8, B. Brooks 4 0-0 8, Cody Johnson 0 2-2 2. Totals — 31 8-17 73. 3-point goals — 3 (May 1, Hudson 1, Weber 1). Team fouls — 17. Fouled out — Brooks.
SOUTHWESTERN (107) — Tyler Raasch 8 2-2 19, Anthony Davis 8 0-2 18, Royce Phillips 6 6-6 18, Ryckey Harper 5 5-7 16, Laurice Ellison 4 4-6 12, Terrance Morgan 2 4-4 9, Kristian Williams 3 0-0 6, Will Wilson 2 1-1 5, Drew Godwin 1 0-0 2, Jamahl DePriest 1 0-0 2. Totals — 40 24-28 107. 3-point goals — 3 (Harper 1, Raasch 1, Morgan 1). Team fouls — 21. Fouled out — Morgan.
CLINTON CC — 30 73
SWCC — 50 107
