Spartan offense stalls in loss to No. 6 DMACC

The No. 6-ranked DMACC men drained nine 3-pointers to go with 18 points by 6-9 center Jamal Ambrose as the Bears opened league play Saturday with a 79-65 victory at Southwestern.

The Spartans, now 3-5 overall, couldn’t keep pace with the Bears offense after pulling withing one point at 24-23 in the first half. The Bears went into halftime with a 28-23 lead and outscored the Spartans 51-42 in a high-scoring second half. The margin reached 23 points (67-44) with 7:29 to play.

Southwestern coach Darryl Fletcher said his team’s defensive intensity tends to diminish while going through their own scoring lulls, which he said will only be fixed with better half-court production.

“If you look at it, a lot of our points were in transition based on them not getting back,” Fletcher said. “In the second half they cut that off, and when you can’t score in the halfcourt, our energy tends to drop and we struggle defensively. We have to execute on offense better.”

The Bears went on a 3-point shooting barrage in the second half, with four made by guard Rylan Smith of Lincoln, Nebraska. The Spartans also had to go small for a bit as 6-7 center Kael Jones got in foul trouble. Thomas Morgan, a 6-9 sophomore, isn’t eligible yet after transferring to SWCC.

“They are not a shooting team, so our plan was to limit drives and try to contest threes, which I feel we did in the first half,” Fletcher said. “In the second half, I think we got lazy on defense and they took advantage of it. Kael got in foul trouble and Thomas isn’t eligible for a couple weeks yet. Jay Budde (6-4) wasn’t a good matchup for their big kid.”

One bright spot for the Spartans was 20 points off the bench by Camory Hall, a 6-3 freshman guard from Kansas City. He scored 13 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

“Camory is still learning defensively and got some reaching fouls today, but he is a high level shooter,” Fletcher said. “When he gets hot he can hit five or six threes.”

Rickey Loftin II of Omaha had been Southwestern’s leading scorer in several games early in the season, but was limited to four points Saturday. Most of his shots were highly contested by a Bears defense swarming him on every possession.

“When you have someone averaging seven or more points than the next guy on your team, the good teams are going to strategize him out,” Fletcher said. “They were isolating him on ball screens and contesting his shots. He will have to get used to being guarded like a top player until we can create other guys who can make them pay. It all comes down to better execution in our offense and buying in that we are a good enough team to win games.”

The Spartans travel to Western Iowa Tech at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before returning home Friday to face Graceland JV at 7 p.m. Southwestern travels to Lawrence, Kansas Saturday to take on Kansas City (Kansas) Community College at Haskell Indian Nations University.

SOUTHWESTERN (65) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 27 5-10 65. Camory Hall 8 0-1 20, Kael Jones 5 2-4 12, Donnary Fontenot 4 1-2 9, Theo Alexandersson Ohnell 3 0-0 8, Rickey Loftin II 2 0-0 4, Jakub Jozef Istok 2 0-0 4, James Braddy 2 0-1 4, Erland Pagliero 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 6 (Hall 4, Ohnell 2). Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — Istok.

DMACC (79) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 28 14-26 79. Jamal Ambrose 7 3-3 18, Da’Shon Fisher 6 5-9 17, Rylan Smith 5 0-0 14, Trevian Carson 3 3-4 11, Jaden Jefferson 3 0-0 7, Dylan Omweno 2 0-2 5, Jalen Haynes 1 2-6 4, Demerius Shakur 1 1-2 3. 3-point goals — 9 (Smith 4, Carson 2, Omweno 1, Jefferson 1, Ambrose 1. Team fouls — 14. Fouled out — Fisher.