Sophs lead Spartan victory

After being introduced prior to the game during Sophomore Day ceremonies, several Southwestern veteran players played key roles in a 72-55 victory over Iowa Central Saturday afternoon.

Center Fatih Huyuk had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow sophomores Patrick Worrell (12 points, nine rebounds, three assists) and Bogdan Cret (11 points, five rebounds, two assists) had big overall performances. Freshman forward AJ Doctor tallied a team-high 14 points.

The Spartans outscored Iowa Central 43-33 in the second half after leading 29-22 at halftime. Both offenses struggled from the field. Southwestern shot 25% from 3-point range (9-35). That was still better than Iowa Central’s 11.1% (1-9) from behind the arc.

Overall, Southwestern got the win while shooting 34% from the field, but converted 17 of 21 foul shots to Iowa Central’s 8-12. That was by design, according to Spartan head coach Shane Sweany.

“We started to get to the free throw line more, which was kind of the emphasis at halftime,” Sweany said. “I just knew that with the way we were shooting we just needed to get there and see the ball go through the hoop. Their zone kind of stymied us for awhile, but we did a good ob of getting stops and we round a way to start scoring.”

The Spartans quickly extended their seven-point halftime lead to double digits in the second stanza, culminating with a 19-point spread (72-53) on Corbin Dozier’s 3-pointer in the final minute.

Dozier and the other sophomores — Justin Bussey, Kyren Angelo, Huyuk, Cret and Worrell — were soon celebrating a victory in their final regular season home game. (Southwestern hosts the regional tournament this weekend.)

“It was nice to see our sophomores play well on Soph Day,” Sweany said. “All those guys are great kids and a ton of fun to coach. Some were in the program two years. I would have liked to have played some of them more, but in the end it’s college basketball and we’re trying to win the game. We enjoyed having them be a part of the program.”

With the loss, Iowa Central fell to 2-15 in 10th place in the ICCAC, and 5-23 overall. The top eight teams in the standings make the regional, with a “play-in” game between the teams in eighth and ninth places scheduled to tip off the regional Friday night. Four quarterfinal games will be played Saturday in the SWCC Student Center gymnasium.

Going into Wednesday’s regular season finale at Northeast (Nebraska) Community College, the Spartans are in sixth place at 8-9, and 16-13 overall. Staying in that position would pit them against the third seed at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The winner of that game advances to a 5 p.m. semifinal game on Sunday, with the other semifinal game scheduledd at 7 p.m. The highest remaining team would host the championship game on Thursday, March 7.

SOUTHWESTERN (72) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 23 17-21 72. AJ Doctor 4 4-4 14, Fatih Huyuk 4 5-9 13, Patrick Worrell 5 0-0 12, Bogdan Cret 3 4-4 11, Andrew Scoggins 3 2-2 8, James Braddy 1 2-2 5, Kyren Angelo 1 0-0 3, Donnary Fontenot 1 0-0 3, Corbin Dozier 1 0-0 3. FG shooting — 23-67 (34.3 percent). 3-point goals — 9-35 (Worrell 2, Doctor 2, Braddy 1, Cret 1, Angelo 1, Fontenot 1, Dozier 1). Rebounds — 37 (Huyuk 14, Worrell 9, Scoggins 7, Cret 5). Assists — 13 (Worrell 3, Scoggins 3). Steals — 6 (Worrell 2, Doctor 2). Blocked shots — 2 (Scoggins 1, Doctor 1). Turnovers — 5. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.

IOWA CENTRAL (55) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 23 8-12 55. Miles Fant 7 0-1 14, Terrius Walker 6 0-0 12, Deuce Blake 3 4-5 10, ID Coleman 2 0-0 4, Jameson Fisher 1 1-2 3, Riley Edwards 1 0-0 2. FG shooting — 23-58 (39.7 percent). 3-point goals — 1-9 (Gaston 1). Rebounds — 3633 (Fant 8, Walker 7). Assists — 8 (Edwards 3, Fant 3). Steals — 1 (Fisher 1). Blocked shots — 2 (Gaston 1, Walker 1). Turnovers — 6. Team fouls — 13. Fouled out — Coleman.