March 29, 2024

No. 17 Bears pull away late

Spartan men fall, 73-66

In each half here Saturday, the Southwestern men rallied from deficits to pull even, but fell short in the end in a 73-66 home loss to Des Moines Area Community College.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak by the Spartans as they ended the pre-holiday portion of their schedule. Despite facing a significant size advantage, Southwestern battled on even terms until the Bears finished on a 16-9 run in the final four minutes.

“This one stings,” Southwestern coach Reggie Kindle, Jr. said. “We were right there. It was a dogfight like every conference game is, and today they got us. Some little things cost us.”

The Bears took an early five-point lead in the first half, only to see the Spartans tie it 15-15 on a slam dunk by 6-6 freshman Devin Tomlinson. Freshman guard Brance Baker delivered a nifty assist on the plan through traffic in the lane, but the Creston graduate was hampered by three first-half fouls, and a fourth early in the second half.

Southwestern held a 28-25 lead before the Bears rallied late to hold a 32-31 halftime edge. Tomlinson had 14 of his team-high 18 points in the opening 20 minutes.

On offensive drought by the Spartans to open the second half allowed DMACC to establish an eight-point lead at 51-43. But, again Southwestern battled back to forge ties of 53-53 and 57-57. From there, Jaden Graves knocked down two 3-pointers for DMACC and Greg Brown scored on a breakout layup and the game was out of reach for the Spartans at 71-63 and less than 25 seconds left.

“Those little stretches where we can’t find a way to score and we give up some deep buckets hurt us tonight,” Kindle said. “Credit to DMACC player number 2 (Graves). He stepped up and hit some big shots late for them.”

Former Denison-Schleswig player Goanar Biliew scored 13 points for the Bears.

DMACC, ranked 17th in the nation, improved to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in ICCAC play. The Spartans, now 6-9 and 1-3, play at No. 2-ranked Kirkwood Wednesday. The Eagles improved to 11-6 and 3-2 with a 66-57 win over Iowa Central Saturday.

DMACC 73, SWCC 66

SOUTHWESTERN (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 26 2-2 66. Devin Tomlinson 7 2-2 18, Carson Busch 6 0-0 15, Khayden Hooks 4 0-0 11, AJ Lacabe 4 0-0 8, Duke Carey 2 0-0 6, Brance Baker 1 0-0 3, Kobe Jackson 1 0-0 3, Teon Thomas 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 10 (Busch 3, Carey 2, Tomlinson 2, Hooks 1, Jackson 1, Baker 1). Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — None.

DES MOINES AREA (FG FT PTS) — Totals — 30 6-9 73. Noah Parcher 5 3-3 15, Goanar Biliew 6 1-3 13, Jadan Graves 5 0-1 13, Greg Brown 6 0-0 12, Hakeem Odunsi 3 0-0 6, Jean Francois 2 2-2 6, Preston Thomas 1 0-0 3, Michael Hartford 1 0-0 3, Allen Udemadu 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 7 (Graves 3, Parcher 2, Thomas 1, Hartford 1). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

Larry Peterson

LARRY PETERSON

Former senior feature writer at Creston News Advertiser and columnist. Previous positions include sports editor for many years and assistant editor. Also a middle school basketball coach in Creston.