‘It was electric’

The Southwestern Community College men’s basketball team turned adversity into an inspired performance Wednesday night in a 71-57 upset victory over Iowa Western.

Earlier in the day, Southwestern officials released a statement that head women’s basketball coach Darien Wingate would be coaching the men’s team that night. Head men’s basketball coach Reggie Kindle and assistant coach Shane Sweany were suspended from their coaching duties for five games and one game, respectively.

According to the statement, the suspensions are related to an incident following Saturday’s 78-76 loss to North Central Missouri College. No additional information was released. Sweany will return to his coaching duties on Dec. 8 and Kindle will resume interaction with the team on Jan. 1.

Devin Tomlinson, 6-6 sophomore from Blue Springs, Missouri, sparked the early run with 12 points in building a 26-12 lead. At the 10:05 mark of the half, reserve guard Isaiah Peasley fell hard to the floor and reported back pain. He was taken to Greater Regional Medical Center for observation, but was able to walk off the court.

Coach Wingate, whose women’s team had its season ended two days earlier due to injuries and low numbers, was called into duty Wednesday morning along with his assistant coach, Demontez Coleman.

“I was happy that I was able to help out, but all the credit goes to the guys,” Wingate said. “They were missing their normal head coach and their assistant coach and they took that personally. They wanted to play for them. Then when Isaiah went down, that just gave them another reason. It was electric.”

Tomlinson scored 17 points as the Spartans took a 42-27 halftime lead. He finished with a game-high 28 points and Joel Villanueva totaled 16.

Iowa Western came into the contest with a 7-3 mark, earning votes in this week’s national junior college Division II poll after defeating 10th-ranked Ellsworth last week. Coach Chad Van Riessen said two starters were out with injuries and six players total from the roster were scratched from appearing with the team Wednesday.

Still, the 2-7 Spartans were an underdog going into the conference opener and Wingate had no experience working with them.

Gap closes

Iowa Western showed signs of completing a comeback in the second half, similar to the circumstances Saturday when North Central Missouri rallied from an 18-point deficit to earn the win at the buzzer. The Reivers closed the gap from 15 points at halftime to five points in just 5:40 to start the half, closing to within 46-41.

However, the Spartans didn’t totally cave into an Iowa Western rally. The lead stayed between five and seven points all the way until the final three minutes when Southwestern made some game-winning plays.

Holding just a 61-57 lead, freshman forward Drake Davison started an offensive burst with a drive to the rim. Villanueva followed with a 3-pointer that rattled in to make it 66-57 at the 2:56 mark.

Davison scored again and was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. However, sophomore Brance Baker of Creston hustled to the rebound. As he drove into traffic he suddenly flipped the ball backwards over his head in a blind pass directly to Tomlinson waiting in the right corner.

Tomlinson’s 3-point shot bounced high off the rim, then dropped through the net for a 70-57 commanding lead with only 1:10 to go. That was the dagger shot as the student section erupted.

“The key there was that we were getting stops on the defensive end and limiting them to one shot,” said Wingate, noting the Reivers’ bigger front line of 6-7 Danair Dempsey, 6-8 Fawaz Surakat and reserve 6-7 Hasson Massenburg. Tomlinson, at 6-6, is the tallest Spartan in the usual rotation.

“Our guys were just resilient,” Wingate said. “They have been putting in the work. I’ve been lucky enough to watch them from a distance. It’s a credit to them. They’ve been waiting for this moment and all they needed was a little extra motivation.”

Southwestern (3-7 overall, 1-1 ICCAC) travels to Mason City Saturday to face North Iowa Area Community College.

SOUTHWESTERN (71) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 27 10-13 71. Devin Tomlinson 9 5-6 28, Joel Villanueva 5 5-7 16, Drake Davison 5 0-0 10, Corbin Dozier 2 0-0 6, Brance Baker 3 0-0 6, Tyus Wills 2 0-0 5, Patrick Worrell 1 0-0 3, Quincy Evans 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 27-49 (55.1 percent). 3-point goals — 7-17 (Dozier 2, Tomlinson 2, Wills 1, Worrell 1, Villanueva 1). Rebounds — 27 (Villanueva 6, Worrell 6, Baker 6, Tomlinson 6). Assists — 7 (Villanueva 2, Tomlinson 2. Steals — 4. Blocked shots — 1 (Villanueva 1). Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.

IOWA WESTERN (57) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 15-22 57. Danair Dempsey 4 4-5 12, Max Polk 4 2-3 12, Rich Brooks 3 3-4 11, Hasson Massenburg 3 3-3 9, James Prescott 2 1-2 6, Fawaz Surakat 1 2-2 4, Rob Sanders 1 0-1 3. FG shooting — 18-56 (32.1 percent). 3-point goals — 6-23 (Brooks 3, Polk 1, Sanders 1). Rebounds — 24 (Dempsey 8). Steals — 9 (Sanders 3, Brooks 3). Blocked shots — 2 (Surakat 1, Dempsey 1). Team fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.