March 29, 2024

Smith erupts for 31 in Spartan victory

Terrance Smith is healthy again, and that’s a good thing for Southwestern basketball.

Smith, versatile sophomore transfer forward from Memphis, Tenn., was injured with a pulled groin muscle in the first week of November. He returned to duty last week in limited duty, and then unleashed a 31-point performance Monday night in an 86-81 home victory over North Central College of Trenton, Mo.

“He played last week at Grand View about eight minutes and then last weekend at Little Priest Tribal College,” SWCC coach Todd Lorensen said. “He played well tonight, made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give us a 43-42 lead at halftime.”

Smith made three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 16-of-23 free throws in the foul-plagued game.

For the game, Southwestern was 29-of-47 at the line as North Central was whistled for 33 fouls. The Pirates were 16-of-20 at the line, but only 6-of-10 in the second half.

KeShawn Wilson provided 16 points in the Spartan victory and TJ Bower added 12, all in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers.

The Spartans improved to 7-2 and Lorensen called it a good win.

“They have a nice team,” the Spartan coach said. “They just beat the No. 19 team in the nation (Kansas City, Kan.) on Friday. I thought we played well. In the first half we missed some open jumpers and we made them make some tough shots. We had some guys get fouls early and played with some makeshift lineups. The good thing is, we got some big stops when we needed to.”

The Spartans host Graceland JV at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday with free admission.

“We’re treating it like a professional social event,” Lorensen said. “Come out after work, maybe before people get on with holiday plans. A lot of our guys can still get out of here Wednesday night and take Thursday and Friday off at home before we practice Saturday.”

The Spartans travel to Trenton, Mo., on Tuesday for a rematch with North Central. Southwestern hosts a boys high school basketball jamboree Saturday starting at 4 p.m. Each team plays two quarters, with Mount Ayr vs. PCM; Chariton vs. Harlan at 4:45; Knoxville vs. Creston at 5:30 and Lenox vs. West Central Valley at 6:15.

NORTH CENTRAL, Mo. (81) — Xavier Parkman 6 4-5 17, Terrance Bush Jr. 7 0-1 16, D’Tavian Walker 5 4-6 14, Brandon Stapleton 4 2-2 11, Demetrius Houston Jr. 3 4-4 10, Caleb Berry 3 2-2 9, Victor Clinton 2 0-0 4. Totals — 30 16-20 81. 3-point goals — 5 (Bush Jr. 2, Berry 1, Parkman 1, Stapleton 1). Team fouls — 33. Fouled out — Perry, Bush Jr., Walker.

SOUTHWESTERN (86) — Terrance Smith 6 16-23 31, KeShawn Wilson 5 3-6 16, TJ Bower 5 0-0 12, Jordan Johnson 2 5-8 9, Calvin Chambers 2 1-2 6, Simon Joseph 2 1-2 5, Jok Kut 2 0-0 4, Ahmad Newsome 0 2-4 2, Josh Tolbert 0 1-2 1. Totals — 24 29-47 86. 3-point goals — 9 (Smith 3, Wilson 3, Bower 2, Chambers 1). Team fouls — 20. Fouled out— None.

N. Central — 42 81

SWCC — 43 86