March 28, 2024

Spartans survive road test

TRENTON, Mo. — The Southwestern men overcame a cold shooting night to stay undefeated with a 75-66 victory Tuesday at North Central Missouri College.

The sixth-ranked Spartans shot just 22.7 percent from 3-point range. Defense and some effective inside play sophomores Gatdoar Kueth (21 points, seven rebounds) and Chad Moran (14 points, four rebounds) keyed the victory. Also, redshirt sophomore guard Brandon Reed provided 17 points, including 7 of 8 at the free throw line. He also matched Kueth with a team-high seven rebounds.

“We struggled to shoot it a little bit,” said Spartan coach Blake Peterson. “We had a couple of other guys step up and play really well. They had a tough time keeping Gat and Chad in front of them. Brandon controlled the tempo and did a good job as the game wore on.”

On a night where starter D’Marqueyon Whittington was uncharacteristically 0 of 9 from the field, Peterson said it was a good experience for the team to find a way to grind out a win.

“We talked about that, how we’ll have off nights offensively, but as long as we keep to our philosophy on defense we’ll still have a chance, especially on the road,” Peterson said. “We’ve only had one game where we allowed more than 70 points, so our guys are locked in and we’re rebounding. Our guards are helping us on the boards.”

UP NEXT — The Spartans travel to Columbus, Nebraska this weekend in the Pinnacle Bank Classic hosted by Central Community College-Columbus. Southwestern plays Southeast (Nebraska) Community College at 5 p.m. Friday and host Central-Columbus at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“Southeast plays a lot like we do,” Peterson said. “They move the ball well and put you in some tough spots. It will be a challenge to keep them out of the paint.”

The Spartans (4-0) return home Wednesday for the second matchup with North Central Missouri College in eight days.

NCMC (66) — 31 35

SWCC (75) — 35 40

SOUTHWESTERN (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 24 22-28 75. Gatdoar Kueth 6 9-13 21, Brandon Reed 5 7-8 17, Chad Moran 6 2-3 14, Noah Persich 3 0-0 8, Jadon Payton 2 2-2 8, Rasheed Barze 1 2-2 5, Jordan Doss 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 24-51 (47.1 percent). 3-point goals — 5-22 (Persich 2, Payton 2, Barze 1). Rebounds — 29 (Gueth 7, Reed 7). Assists — 12 (Reed 3, Whittington 3. Steals — 7 (Reed 2). Blocked shots — 2 (Moran 1, Kueth 1). Turnovers — 15.

NORTH CENTRAL (FG FT PTS) — Statistics unavailable at press time.