Spartans can’t keep up in second half

For 30 minutes, the Southwestern mens basketball team (5-12, 3-3) played a rollercoaster game against Iowa Lakes, but the Lakers (13-5, 6-0) pushed the pace in the last 10 minutes, coming away with a 58-45 victory Wednesday.

The loss follows their close 63-60 loss in Boone against DMACC (14-4, 4-2) Saturday. Sophomore Khayden Hooks led the team with 13 points in Saturday’s match up. The losses came from opposite causes — the first a slow start and the second a stagnation in the second half.

Though the Spartans outscored DMACC 36-28 in the second half, it wasn’t enough to overcome their first half deficit.

Against Iowa Lakes, the Spartans were led in points by Devin Tomlinson with 18, but with seven minutes left in the game, a leg injury had Tomlinson sidelined for the remainder.

First Half

The Spartans started strong, with shots by 6-6 sophomore Tomlinson and 6-3 freshman Joel Villanueva lending to a 7-1 score three minutes into the game.

Iowa Lakes closed the gap, but didn’t find their first lead of the game, 16-14, until 12 minutes had elapsed. That lead was quickly squashed by back-to-back 3-pointers from 6-3 freshman Quincy Evans.

The Lakers regained the lead with just over a minute left in the half, but once again, a 3-point shot from the Spartans quelled the comeback.

A one-point lead was held by the Spartans heading into halftime.

Second Half

Tomlinson came out on fire to start the second half, living up to his recent accolades as ICCAC athlete of the week.

In the first three minutes, Tomlinson nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and a shot from inside the arc, firing up the Spartans’ sideline.

With 11 minutes remaining, the Spartans held a seven point lead before the Lakers upped the pace and flipped the table on Southwestern.

“We did a great job executing our plan for about 30 minutes,” SWCC head coach Reggie Kindle said. “Then they pressured us, sped us up a little bit and it kind of got out of control from there.”

The pace quickened, the Lakers hitting multiple threes to close the gap. Noticing the change in speed, Kindle called a time out.

“I tell our guys, the only thing that respects pressure is pressure,” Kindle said. “We wanted to put the pressure back on their guys. You know we just kind of folded a little bit and let them speed us up. We were just trying to slow the game down.”

After Tomlinson was sidelined, the Lakers took over the lead and held it through the end.

“It didn’t help not having him down the stretch either,” Kindle said. “God is sovereign. Whatever God’s got planned is going to be planned. What happened tonight was part of God’s plan.”

In the final six minutes, Iowa Lakes outscored Southwestern 17-4. The Lakers were led by Jeremiah Burke with 21 points.

The game was night and day from the way the half started. Sloppy passes, missed shots and turnovers plagued the Spartans down the stretch.

“Credit to Iowa Lakes man,” Kindle said. “Part of basketball is you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror, and I didn’t do a fully great job of having my team prepared. I’ve got to a better job too.”

As the Spartans huddled during timeouts, Kindle told them to fight. “You’ve got to fight,” he said. “The game’s never over. You’ve just got to fight and continue to crawl back. You never know what’s going to happen.”

After five scoreless minutes, 5-10 sophomore Justin Bussey made one of two free throws to stop the Lakers’ scoring streak. With 15 seconds left, 6-4 freshman Drake Davison nailed a 3-pointer, but the game was already lost.

The Spartans return to action 6 p.m. Friday as they host Simpson College JV.