Starting out right

DANVILLE, ILL — Step one for the week in an already record-breaking season is successfully in the books for the Southwestern Community College men’s basketball team.

Southwestern won its first-ever opening round game at the national tournament in the process.

The top-seeded Spartans used a balanced offensive attack and unrelenting defense, particularly in the second half, in crushing College of Southern Maryland 94-69 Tuesday in the NJCAA Division II national tournament at Danville Area Community College.

Southwestern, 33-1, advances to the quarterfinal Thursday against Pima Community College (Arizona). The eighth-seeded Aztecs picked up a 93-84 win over Waubonsee.

Tip Thursday is set for 1 p.m. in Danville.

“It was great to get that first win,” said Brodric Thomas. “We were locked in.”

Southwestern trailed for all of 49 seconds in a dominating win.

“We know every single team once you get to Danville is going to give their best shot,” Thomas said. “They were going to give you their best. We came out and we did our job.”

The Spartans played with the poise and confidence that has carried them to the most successful season in Spartan history.

“It’s human nature to be nervous, to be excited,” said Southwestern coach Todd Lorensen. “For the guys to be able to come out here, see the ball go through the hoop and be able to make some mistakes and be successful is good.”

Southwestern’s offense was dialed in for all 40 minutes. The Spartans shot 32-of-66 overall for the game and 19-of-23 at the free throw line.

“Offensively, we were pretty solid throughout the course of the night,” Lorensen said. “We got quality shots more often than not, which is our rallying cry.”

On any given night, one of a number of Spartans can take charge and carry the load offensively.

Tuesday was KeShawn Wilson’s turn.

The sophomore from Lincoln, Nebraska had the hot hand, pouring in a team-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

“That’s the beauty of our team,” Lorensen said. “We’ve got multiple guys who step up and be that leading scorer on a given night and other guys still pitch in 8-12 and next thing you know you’ve got a pretty good thing going.”

Once Wilson’s first couple looks went down, the first one giving the Spartans a 6-2 lead early, they kept feeding him. He had 15 at halftime as Southwestern led 42-32.

“My shot was feeling good and my teammates kept feeding me and I kept shooting,” Wilson said.

Wilson was on fire early from long range. In the second half, he was effective going to the basket.

“When he gets good looks, he’s going to make them more often than not,” Lorensen said. “When they close down on him hard, take away the three, he did a nice job to get to the rim, playing on two feet and scoring in the paint.”

Alijah Thomas had an effective outing off the bench. The Des Moines native had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, along with five rebounds. Lavon Hightower enjoyed a solid outing also in a reserve roll with 13 points. Jordan Johnson chipped in 10 points, while Calvin Chambers had nine and Jamil Maddred added eight.

It was far from a perfect outing from the Spartans. Southern Maryland had nine offensive rebounds, which kept it in the game. A number of the Hawks’ offensive rebounds turned into second-chance points.

Southwestern gave up only three offensive boards in the second half, a big favor in helping the Spartans dominate the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Hawks 52-37.

“We knew that was going to be a concern coming in,” Lorensen said. “That was going to be a thing we needed to focus on. To only give up three in the second half was a big part in blowing this game open.”

Southwestern survived the first game. Now the Spartans have 48 hours to prepare for Pima, which is based in Tucson, Arizona.

Lorensen noted assistant coach Scott Davis has a game plan ready to go, which the Spartans will focus on during a workout today at a nearby high school.

Lorensen pointed out Southwestern’s depth could be a factor in the Spartans’ favor.

“Coach Davis has the game plan ready to rock and roll,” Lorensen said. “Their depth isn’t great, so hopefully we can get the game going up and down, wear them out.”

Southern Maryland — (69) 32-37. Totals — 23 19-21. Scoring — Davis Francis 7 9-10 24. Sean Scott 4 1-2 9. Jordan Battle 2 4-4 9. Trevon Porter 4 2-4 10. Anthony Williams 4 4-6 12. Levon Randall 2 1-2 5. 3-point field goals — 2 (David Francis 1, Jordan Battle 1). Rebounds — 41 (Trevon Porter 13, Jordan Battle 11, David Francis 8). Assists — 8 (Anthony Williams 8). Steals — 6 (Anthony Williams 2, Dominic Espeleta 2). Turnovers — 19. Fouls — 18. Fouled out — none.

Southwestern (94) 42-52. Totals — 32 19-23. Scoring — Brodric Thomas 2 1-1 5. Jamil Maddred 2 2-2 8. Jordan Johnson 4 2-2 10. Calvin Chambers 3 3-4 9. KeShawn Wilson 9 2-4 24. Alijah Thomas 4 2-2 12. Lavon Hightower 3 6-6 13. Khallid Edwards 1 1-2 3. Nate Lee 2 0-0 5. Antonio Williams 2 0-0 4. Dan Ngoyi 0 0-0 0. Keegan Wederquist 0 0-0 0. 3-point field goals — 11 (KeShawn Wilson 4, Alijah Thomas 2, Jamil Maddred 2, Lavon Hightower 1, Nate Lee 1). Rebounds — 33 (Maddred 5, Wilson 5, A. Thomas 5, Lee 4, Johnson 4, B. Thomas 3, Edwards 3). Assists — 17 (Chambers 3, Hightower 3, B. Thomas 2, Maddred 2, A. Thomas 2, Edwards 2). Steals — 10 (B. Thomas 2, Johnson 2, Chambers 2). Turnovers — 15. Fouls — 24. Fouled out — none.