Southwestern upsets Tabor men in KCAC semifinals

Every time Southwestern passed the basketball on Saturday, it reached the hands of someone with a strong case to take a game-deciding shot.

The Moundbuilders made 9 of their first 10 shots in a KCAC semifinal game at KCAC champion Tabor and barely cooled off from there. In fact, 90 percent was a dropoff for one of their top players.

In a tie game with 75 seconds to go, the ball ended up with Jacob Horsch, whose three-pointer broke a tie in Southwestern’s 93-88 semifinal victory.

Southwestern (23-9) made 35 of 53 shots and advances to Monday’s tournament final at Hartman Arena, where York (Neb.) College awaits. Southwestern has won eight in a row.

“We’ve got a lot of threats on offense, and we try to use all of them to our advantage,” Horsch said.

No. 24 Tabor (22-9), the tournament’s top seed, led by seven with under 10 minutes to go after erasing a seven-point first-half deficit. But momentum never really left Southwestern because it never endured a shooting cold spell.

The post scoring of DJ Wallace and Brent Smith created longer-range opportunities for Southwestern, which made 4 of 7 three-pointers in the first half. Once Southwestern established the perimeter, it called on Wallace and Smith again.

Smith made each of his seven attempts and Wallace was 7 for 9, converting his final five shots.

“We trust our bigs,” said Southwestern guard Barrington Hunter, who made 3 of 5 three-pointers and finished with 11 points. “If they don’t have it, they’re going to kick it out for us to make a shot. We all know what to do.”

Cameron Hunt made 10 of 16 shots for Southwestern and scored a game-high 28 points. He scored on the first eight possessions in which he took a shot. He missed once but got the ball back and made a three-pointer.

Hunt didn’t make his second second-half basket until the 5:55 mark, but he dominated stretches of the final minutes. He scored eight points down the stretch and was calm with ball, creating other late baskets by dribbling around Tabor’s pressure and finding the players who had eluded it.

“Cam, definitely, we try to get the ball in his hands to see what he can do,” Horsch said. “He’s a first-teamer (all-KCAC) for a reason. He’s a great player, he can do it all, and you try to get the ball in his hands as much as you can.”

Horsch’s three-pointer came with 1:16 to play, but it followed so many other pivotal plays. Neither team led by more than three for the final eight minutes until Southwestern’s final two free throws.

Tabor was within one, 89-88, in the final 30 seconds but turnovers and missed shots tarnished its final possessions.

“We just do what we do best and stay consistent,” Hunt said. “We never get too high and we never get too low, and it worked tonight.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Southwestern upsets Tabor men in KCAC semifinals."