News and Updates

Walters State uses runs to down Hawks at Hutch

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Walters State Community College men’s basketball team used hot shooting and a big edge on the boards to defeat the South Georgia State Hawks 93-84 in the first round of the NJCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

The 10th-seeded Senators improved to 31-1 on the season by blistering the nets at a 60 percent clip on Sunday (33-for-55), including a 17-for-27 performance (63 percent) after halftime, and also owned a 42-25 edge on the boards.

Walters State also used a trio of big runs to take the win on Sunday.

“If we could erase two of those three (runs), or maybe all three, we probably are still playing,” South Georgia State coach Cory Baldwin said. “It stings a little bit, but obviously they’re a very good team. You don’t play many teams that are 30-1. That says a lot about them already.”

However, Walters State also committed 21 turnovers, which the No. 23 seeded Hawks converted into 23 points to stay in the game and nearly pull off the upset.

“We lead the country in turnovers forced, so that’s kind of our thing,” Baldwin said. “We were a little worried coming into the game because they were third in turnovers forced. But we won that battle — they had 21 and we only had 10. If you would’ve told me before the game that would’ve been the case, I probably would’ve said, ‘Well, we won.’

“But they outrebounded us so bad. Some of that was some foul trouble with our bigs. They weren’t in a lot, but a lot of it was them — they’re very tenacious on the glass.”

The Senators scored the first seven points of the game and took a 7-0 lead on Da’Mori Lytch’s free throws with 17:35 left in the first half. Trae Rideau’s 3-pointer three minutes into the game made it 10-1

However, Jeremy Anderson’s layup with 16:28 left in the first half gave South Georgia State its first field goal and sparked an 8-0 run, capped by Reggie White’s layup with 14:10 left in the half that made it 10-9.

Jamar Livingston’s 3 pointer with 5:31 to go before halftime pushed the Walters State lead into double digits at 35-25, but the Hawks used an 11-2 spurt to again cut the lead to one point when Anderson’s free throws with 2:16 left before halftime made it 37-36.

However, the Senators scored eight straight points and pushed the lead to 45-36 on a Brian Carter free throw with 33 seconds left before the intermission. The Senators led 45-38 at halftime.

South Georgia State did not give up, tying the score at 56 with 13:22 to go on an Anderson layup, then after the teams traded baskets, Dominick Wright hit the jumper with 12:08 to go to give the Hawks their first lead at 60-58.

However, that lead did not last long. Livingston re-tied the score at 60 just 25 seconds later, then Carter Webb’s triple with 11:07 to go put Walters State back on top 63-60. The Senators never trailed again.

Chandler Thomas’s layup with 9:38 to go cut the Senators lead to 68-65, but Webb’s triple with 8:06 to go pushed the lead to 75-65, capping a 7-0 spurt and 17-5 run.

Baldwin said that run proved to be the turning point.

“We had the ball coming out of a media timeout,” Baldwin said. “We were up two with the ball. If we score there, maybe everything’s different. But the explosion hit — (Webb) hit four 3s in that stretch, which was very unfortunate.

“We lost him a couple of times in transition and a couple of times we guarded him pretty good, but he was feeling it a little bit at that point, so he made two very tough ones as well.”

The Hawks kept fighting, cutting the lead to 83-79 on a Wright trey with 3:54 to go, but could come no closer.

Anderson led South Georgia State (23-11) with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Thomas added 19 points and five steals. Wright had 14 points, while Da’Avion Thomas chipped in 13 and Trey Callaway contributed 10. Reggie White finished with seven points, seven assists and three steals.

Taquez Butler paced the Senators with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Webb added 17, Brian Carter had 15 and Lytch finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Walters State next will take on seventh-seeded Midland in the second round of the NJCAA Tournament on Tuesday.

Despite Sunday’s loss, Baldwin is pleased with his team’s season. After a 3-7 start, the Hawks caught fire, going on to win the Region XVII title and make it to Hutch for the second year in a row.

“This group was very resilient,” Baldwin said. “We went on to win 20 of the next 23 (to get to Hutch), so we had an unbelievable run.”

SGSC's Jeremy Anderson, a redshirt sophomore from Monroe, led the Hawks with 21 points and 10 rebounds in SGSC's first-round loss to Walters State in the first round of the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, Sunday afternoon. Photo courtesy of South Georgia State College