By: Christian Binger, Interim Director of Athletics Media Relations
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Date: February 27, 2018
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Kearney, Neb.Â
Bolivar, Mo. - After claiming the #11 seed, Southwest Baptist (12-16, 6-13 MIAA) travels to #6 Nebraska Kearney (15-13, 11-8 MIAA) for the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats carry a 12-16 (6-13 MIAA) record in the 2017-18 season. The Bearcats are coming off two defeats over the weekend at the hands of Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney. SBU is paced by senior forward Logan Hovey who averages a team high and 3rd best in the MIAA conference 18.9 points per game and 5th best 7.5 rebounds per game. Chris Rossow leads the team in assists with 4.5 a game, and Damian Prgomet chips in 7.9 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game. As a team, the Bearcats are scoring 76.1 points per game and shoot a 4th best in the MIAA 40.1% from behind the arc while giving up 75.6 points per game on 43.5% shooting from opponents. The 43.5 field goal percentage defense ranks 5th in the MIAA.
SCOUTING THE LOPERS
Nebraska Kearney comes into the game with a 15-13 (11-8 MIAA). The Lopers last game was against Southwest Baptist in the regular season finale and won the game 80-62. The Lopers feature the leading scorer and second leading rebounder in the conference, Trey Lansman, who averages 21.5 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. The Lopers have two others who average double digit scoring. Lane Rohrich (13.2 ppg) and Ty Danielson (12.6 ppg) contribute to an offense that averages 77.8 points per game. The Loper defense gives up 76.1 points per game on 44.4% shooting.
THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy is in his fourth season on the SBU bench, holding a 48-66 (25-54 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 229-167 across twelve seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 20 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball. Under Sheehy, SBU has produced two All-MIAA selections.
Kevin Lofton is in his third season as head coach and in the midst of his 23rd season as a member of the Lopers coaching staff. In his two seasons as head coach, Lofton has accumulated a record of 41-22 and an NCAA tournament berth in 2016.
ALL-TIME SERIES
These two squads have only met 12 times in the past with SBU winning 6 and Nebraska Kearney winning 6. The two teams played twice this season with SBU claiming a 92-87 victory in the first matchup and Nebraska Kearney winning the second matchup 80-62.
BEARCATS LAST OUTING
(2/23/18) - Kearney, Ne. -Â The Bearcats couldn't get it done in Kearney Friday night, falling to UNK 62-80. SBU men finish the regular season 12-16 (6-13 MIAA). Nebraska-Kearney finishes their regular season 15-13 (11-8 MIAA).Â
Chris Rossow and Logan Hovey carried the Bearcats in points with 19 and 18 respectively. Leading SBU in assists with four was Rossow as well. Karim Mouliom snagged 8 rebounds in the loss. The Bearcats were 41.8% (23-55) from the field and 31.6% (6-19) from three point range.Â
Southwest Baptist University started off strong, leading 7-5 with 16:56 left in the first half. The Lopers took the lead shortly after that and would hold on to it the rest of the game. UNK took their lead up to 16 with 5:49 remaining in the first half. Hovey made a three pointer with 53 seconds left in the half to cut the Kearney lead down to 39-32. The Lopers scored four points in free throws before the half ended to give them a 43-32 lead going into halftime.Â
SBU hung with UNK, getting the Loper lead down to 59-51 with 9:29 remaining, but Kearney would keep a double digit lead the rest of the game and finish with a final score of 62-80 in favor of the Lopers. Southwest Baptist struggled from the free throw line in the second half shooting just 3-7, while Nebraska-Kearney was nearly perfect from the line hitting 10-11 in the second half, and 17-18 overall.
LOPERS LAST OUTING
(2/23/18) - Kearney, Neb. – Senior forwardÂ
Trey Lansman reached the 2,000 career point mark and the Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team sunk 13 three pointers to beat Southwest Baptist, 80-62, Friday night at the Health & Sports Center.
This was the regular season finale for both teams. UNK (15-13, 11-8) has won five in a row while the Bearcats (12-16, 6-13) have lost three straight and seven and eight. These two teams likely will meet Tuesday night in the first round of the MIAA Tournament; the Lopers are sole possession of sixth place with SBU 11th. Pairing for the 12-team tourney will be announced tomorrow evening.
Lansman (Harlan, Ia.) came in needing nine points to become the fifth Loper to reach 2k in points. He had eight in the first half and then nailed a triple from the right wing 46 seconds into the second half to reach the milestone. Battling foul trouble, he finished with 12 points, eight boards, three assists, three blocks and a steal.
"It's something that is well deserved. He's done a great job with leadership and worked really hard over a four-year period to develop his skill set. It's fun to watch him right now because he's playing at a really high level," said Loper head coachÂ
Kevin Lofton.
Lansman and fellow seniorsÂ
Ty Danielson (York) andÂ
Lane Rohrich (Pierce) each made three triples in the game with UNK 8 of 13 from behind the arc in the first half. The 13 3's tie a season-high effort and mark the fourth time in the last six games Kearney has had a double digit make total from downtown.
"Lane has stepped in and had a tremendous year for us. And we're going to need him and everyone down the stretch to step up. It's good to see our seniors playing well at this time of the year," said Lofton.
UNK led for 37 minutes but SBU, shooting close to 50 percent most of the night, whittled a 16-point deficit down to eight midway through the second half. A dunk by freshman reserve postÂ
Weston Baker Magrath (Marshall, Min.) got the lead back into double digits and began a game clinching 13-4 run.
"We got off to a good start tonight and I think the guys were locked in for our seniors," said Lofton.
Rohrich led the Lopers with 21 points on 8 of 10 (3 of 3 threes) shooting. Next, Danielson had 13 points (3 of 5 threes) with sophomore forwardÂ
AJ Jackson (Bellevue West) having 11 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and three steals. Going 5 of 5 at the line, this is his first double double as a Loper.
Off the bench, Baker Magrath (five points, six rebounds and three blocks) and Iowa sophomore forwardÂ
Kyle Juhl (three points and three assists) provided a lift. Finally, UNK tied a season-high in blocks (eight) as Rohrich had two and four others had at least one.
SBU was led by its top two players in senior wing Logan Hovey (18 points and seven rebounds) and freshman guard Chris Rossow (19 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals).
