Trojans Show Defensive Effort Early but Fall at Seward County

LIBERAL — A strong defensive start wasn’t enough for the Colby Community College men’s basketball team Saturday night, as the Trojans fell 73–56 on the road to Seward County inside The Greenhouse. Colby forced a season-high 24 turnovers, including 12 in the first half, but offensive struggles after halftime allowed the Saints to pull away for the Jayhawk Conference win.

Colby trailed just 24–19 at the break after one of its better defensive halves of the young season. Seward was held to 35 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, and the Trojans limited penetration while jumping passing lanes for transition chances. The Trojans briefly built momentum early, opening the night with an 8–0 run capped by a three from Braedyn Gillespie and a driving basket from Jaydyn Corchado. But Seward steadied itself, slowly grinding back into the game.

The Trojans’ second-half challenge came on the defensive end, where the Saints shot 60 percent after halftime compared to Colby’s 42 percent. Seward used a series of baskets at the rim and a 28–8 advantage in paint points to create separation.

Despite the loss, Head Coach Jerrod Stanford pointed to Colby’s defensive commitment early in the contest as evidence of progress.

“We played a lot better defensively, especially in the first half,” Stanford said. “We forced 24 turnovers, which is the most we’ve forced all year, so that was positive. We’ve got to get the field-goal percentage better though. They ended up shooting 60 percent from the floor in the second half compared to 35 percent in the first. That first-half effort has to be our standard.”

Gillespie led Colby with 13 points on four three-pointers, while Kellan Simoneau provided a spark off the bench with 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc. Gabe Njenga added nine points and a team-high five rebounds, and freshman Daniel Cramer chipped in five points with four boards and two steals.

Colby was again limited by short-handed personnel, and several rotation adjustments were needed throughout the game. Stanford said the staff was cautious with multiple injured players with an eye toward the long season ahead.

“We had a few guys that were beat up and we were cautious,” he said. “We didn’t want to go the wrong direction trying to get them healed and play at the same time. But we also have to find guys that are going to defend and really compete for 40 minutes. Until we have a group of young men who decide they don’t want the guy across from them to score or get the rebound, we’re going to continue to struggle.”

Looking ahead, Stanford emphasized that the foundation lies in consistent defensive pride and attention to detail.

“We’ve been working on guarding the ball one-on-one, playing help-side, keeping the ball out of the paint, and boxing out,” he said. “We have to keep focusing on defense. That night was the only game we’ve really struggled offensively, so I think that was a one-off. We also made sure the guys understood some of the things we were missing offensively and helped them see how Seward defended us, because Barton is going to defend us the same way. At this stage of the season, it’s hard to change a lot, so we just need them to play faster, play more confident, and know they can do what’s necessary to win.”

The Trojans move on to a challenging conference test against Barton, where they expect to regain needed depth and look to build on the defensive strides shown in Liberal.