Spartans rally for upset win

From the first possession of the second half, the Southwestern men’s basketball team was intent on turning around a dismal first half against seventh-ranked Iowa Lakes Saturday afternoon.

The Lakers had kept a good weekend Spartan crowd quiet in converting numerous Southwestern turnovers into fast break points in building a 37-20 halftime advantage. Iowa Lakes was riding an eight-game winning streak and sitting in second place in the ICCAC at 12-3, and 21-5 overall.

The Spartans (6-9 and 14-13) were underdogs and playing like it.

Suddenly, with only two minutes elapsed in the second half the margin was sliced to 10 points (37-37) and midway through the half it was down to one possession at 46-43.

Down the stretch there was plenty of drama, but the Spartans ended up with the upset victory, 60-59. Coming off an 80-43 loss at DMACC three days earlier, coach Shane Sweany said Saturday’s big rally could be an emotional lift toward the end of the regular season. The Spartans host Sophomore Day next Saturday against Iowa Central.

“Wow, that was gritty,” Sweany said. “It was by far the best half we’ve played all season. The guys bounced back from the loss and a bad first half and played together.”

Both Sweany and one of the heroes of the victory, sophomore guard Patrick Worrell, shared the belief that the turnaround could be attributed to one thing — fewer mistakes with the ball.

“At halftime we talked and we said we know we’re tough at home and can play better,” Worrell said. “The main thing was turnovers. We had 13 in the first half and only two in the second half. They were scoring in transition and we stopped that. We got the job done.”

With just over a minute left, Southwestern trailed 57-55. Andrew Scoggins scored inside to tie it. The basket capped a 17-point performance by the 6-7 redshirt freshman from Minneapolis.

After a defensive stop, Worrell was open on the right wing as he received a pass and sank his fourth 3-pointer of the day. That ignited the Spartan boosters in setting a 60-57 lead.

“I saw I was open and let it go,” said the 6-4 guard from Douglas, Georgia. “It went in. I was shooting it all game and had a lot of confidence.”

Sam West of Iowa Lakes made one of two free throws, but Worrell fouled out while trying to gain position for the rebound on the second-shot miss. That put Dominic Martinez-White on the line with a chance to tie it with 12.6 seconds left. He made one to make it 60-59.

After a Southwestern missed free throw, Iowa Lakes had to go the length of the floor with 1.6 seconds left. On a long pass to the Lakers’ lane area, Southwestern’s A.J. Doctor was whistled for a foul while reaching for the ball.

That put Jaedan Jefferson on the line for Iowa Lakes with a chance to win the game. He missed the front end of the one-and-one free throw opportunity and time expired as the teams scrambled for the miss.

“A.J. was going for the ball, and she (official) said he undercut the guy,” Sweany said, exhaling in relief. “That’s a tough one with one second to play. A win’s a win. We’ll take it.”

The Spartan first-year coach said his team’s focused attack to start the second half was the key in the 17-point comeback.

“Our goal was to get it to 10 with 10 minutes left,” Sweany said. “We cut it to 10 with 18 minutes left, so we hit our goal quick and we were on our way. They scored a lot of their points in the first half in transition off our turnovers. We stopped turning the ball over and we did a good job of limiting them to one shot. Neither team made their free throws tonight.”

While two Iowa Lakes misses late were crucial, Southwestern also missed its chance to complete the rally sooner by going 3 of 10 at the line.

The Spartans host Iowa Central at 3 p.m. Saturday with Scoggins and Worrell among seven sophomores to be honored for their Spartan careers. Worrell matched Scoggins for high scoring honors Saturday with 17 points. Doctor also reached double figures with 10.

SOUTHWESTERN (92) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 25 3-10 60. Patrick Worrell 6 1-2 17, Andrew Scoggins 8 1-4 17, A.J. Doctor 4 1-4 10, Bogdan Cret 3 0-0 6, James Braddy 1 0-0 3, Donnary Fontenot 1 0-0 3, Kyren Angelo 1 0-0 2, Justin Bussey 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 7 (Worrell 4, Fontenot 1, Doctor 1, Braddy 1). Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — Bussey.

IOWA LAKES (59) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 23 11-20 59. Kai Evans 12 2-6 26, Benard Omooria 5 0-0 11, Sam West 2 5-5 9, Ashton Hermann 1 2-2 5, Blake Koolman 2 0-0 4, Jaedan Jefferson 1 1-5 3, Jhordan Ryan 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 2 (Omooria 1, Hermann 1). Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — None.