March 28, 2024

Banged-up Spartans hang on for win at Wartburg

WAVERLY — An injury-riddled Southwestern men’s team escaped with a 73-70 win here Monday night against Wartburg’s JV team.

The Spartans, now ranked 11th in the nation, had previously defeated Wartburg in Creston by an 87-56 final.

“It was a much different game than the first time, for lots of reasons,” Spartan head coach Todd Lorensen said. “They did a really good job of playing hard, trying to control what they can control. They had a couple of kids who didn’t play in the first game that played last night that were key contributors.”

Southwestern was without the services of 6-7 starting post player Jok Kut, who has missed the past several games with a shoulder injury, and without swingman Josh Kirk, who suffered a foot injury over the weekend.

In addition, starter TJ Bower of Nodaway Valley played through a hip injury that limited his effectiveness on the court.

“We had a couple of guys, Marquise Yarborough and Josh Tolbert, get some extended minutes,” Lorensen said. “TJ Bower played, but he was nursing a hip injury from Saturday, too. He only got two points and missed a lot of shots he would normally make. Tanner Kellogg got to come off the bench and contribute some minutes, as well.”

Wartburg nailed 3-pointers on each of its first three possessions of the game, jumping to a 9-2 lead.

But the Spartans rebounded, and midway through the first half had built a 10-point lead. Southwestern went into the halftime break with a 41-32 lead.

“I felt pretty good about where we were at half, because they hit eight 3-pointers,” Lorensen said. “I didn’t think they could do that again.”

Southwestern maintained a lead of about eight to 10 points for the majority of the second half, until Wartburg began chipping into that lead with about eight minutes left.

With 1:58 to go in the game, Wartburg knocked down another 3-pointer to take a 67-66 lead.

Jaylon Smith, who was named the ICCAC Player of the Week for the previous week on Tuesday, was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer and sank all three free throws, giving Southwestern a 69-67 lead.

After a stop on the defensive end, Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Spartans up 72-67 with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Wartburg cut the lead to 72-70 with another 3-pointer and then Smith made one of two free throws. The Knights missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game, as Southwestern survived for the 73-70 win.

Smith scored a team-high 28 points in the win, while Simon Joseph added 13.

“I was disappointed with some of our execution,” Lorensen said. “It’s a tough game traveling that far. I’m proud of the way they found a way to pull it out. It just goes to show anybody can beat anybody on any given night. I hope it really captures our guys’ attention moving forward.”

Player of Week

Smith was named the ICCAC Division II Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 7-14.

The Southwestern sophomore averaged 22 points, three rebounds, four assists and 2.5 steals per game for the two games last week.

He has helped lead the Spartans to being nationally ranked for three consecutive weeks for the first time in at least a decade, according to Lorensen.