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FSCC men rally to quiet Storm
Fort Scott Community College's men may have still had a tough semester-opening loss at Brown Mackie on their minds when they took the floor against Southeast (Neb.) at Arnold Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Having lost a big lead and dropped a region game to the Lions in overtime, the Greyhounds weren't executing their game plan in the first half. In the second half, the Fort Scott defense clamped down and that was the push the 'Hounds needed to rally for a 68-61 victory over the Storm.
"I thought we were playing individual basketball the first half," Fort Scott head coach Michael Cook said. "We listened to our friends in the stands instead of working our game plan. We only shot one free throw in the first half; we didn't attack. In the second half, we attacked and got to the free-throw line."
The 'Hounds (5-13) broke a four-game losing streak and swept the season series with Southeast.
Fort Scott rallied from an 8-point halftime deficit, outscoring Southeast 39-24 in the second half. Eddie Sims gave the 'Hounds a boost by scoring the last basket of the first half and the first three of the second. The last of those was a 3-point shot that brought Fort Scott within 38-36. Dametrius Walker tied it on a transition basket, then Evan Brull sank a 3-pointer to make it 41-38 with 13:13 on the clock.
Southeast missed its first 8 field-goal tries of the second half until Kuoth Pouth scored with 12:23 on the clock. Taylor Britt converted a 3-point play with 11:57 to go to give the Storm the lead for the final time, 45-42.
Fort Scott scored 20 of the next 26 points with Jeremiah Fleming's 3-pointer making it 62-51 with 5:44 to go.
Southeast scored 8 of the next 10 but 6 of those points came as free throws. Then Walker scored a layup with 1:50 to go and newcomer Marcus George made it 68-59 on a drive with 1:23 left.
Southeast was 15 of 47 from the field in the game but went just 5 of 20 in the second half.
"Our second-half defense, and especially our bench on second-half defense, carried us," Cook said. "They turned the corner for us. We were kind of stagnant in what we wanted to do. I decided to put in John (Freeman), who didn't score, but he was our anchor on defense. We got some steals and some rotation in our traps."
Sims led the way for Fort Scott with 18 points followed by Walker with 11. Snyder Cenecharles led Southeast (7-7) with 16 points followed by Taylor with 14 and Daniel William with 13.
Fort Scott goes back into Region VI Division II play with a home game versus Hesston at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
SOUTHEAST: Spencer 1-4 0-0 2, William 3-10 7-8 13, Scott 0-2 5-6 5, Cenecharles 5-12 5-6 16, McRae 0-4 4-4 4, M.Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Britt 4-6 5-5 14, K.Brown 0-2 2-2, Ogbe 0-1 0-0 0, Poth 1-3 0-0 3. TOTALS: 15-47 28-31 61.
FORT SCOTT: Walker 4-8 2-3 11, Simms 8-19 0-1 18, Fleming 1-5 0-0 3, Oliver 4-8 1-2 9, Thompson 1-6 2-2 4, Cerda 1-1 0-0 3, Brull 3-5 0-0 9, Benbow 2-2 0-0 4, Owens 1-4 0-0 3, Freeman 2-4 0-0 4. TOTALS: 27-62 5-8 68
Halftime: Southeast, 37-29.
Three-point field goals: Southeast 3-12 (M.Brown 1-2, Britt 1-2, Cenecharles 1-3, Spencer 0-1, William 0-2, Scott 0-2), Fort Scott 9-20 (Brull 3-5, Simms 2-4, Cerda 1-1, Owens 1-2, Walker 1-3, Fleming 1-5).
Total fouls: Southeast 15, Fort Scott 20. Fouled out: none.
Rebounds: Southeast 35 (William 9), Fort Scott 36 (Oliver 9). Assists: Southeast 4 (Britt 2), Fort Scott 11 (Walker 4). Turnovers: Southeast 17, Fort Scott 17. Steals: Southeast 6 (William 3), Fort Scott 5 (5 with 1 each). Blocked shots: Southeast 6 (William 3), Fort Scott 4 (Oliver 3).