It took Southeast Arkansas College one game this season to set a new single-game scoring record in the men’s basketball team’s short history.
SEARK torched Community Christian College from Lafayette, La., 109-72 on Tuesday at H.O. Clemmons Arena. Coach Chad Kline said the Sharks made open shots and scored in transition.
“I thought our guards did a good job of getting inside-out,” Kline said. “It helps when you get stops, and then you can get out and run. When you’re playing in a half-court game, a lot of times it’s a lot slower, so you can’t score as much. I thought we got in a good rhythm early, got some rebounds, got out and ran.”
SEARK (1-0) broke 100 points twice last year during its inaugural season but never scored more than 105. The Sharks surpassed that number with 1:31 remaining in Tuesday’s game.
South Arkansas College transfer Lavion Owens, a sophomore forward, scored a game-high 24 points, with 18 of those coming in the first half. He made three of SEARK’s nine 3-pointers.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Kline said he saw what Owens could do last year while coaching against him.
“He played at SouthArk last year and pounded us twice,” Kline said. “He’s kind of a Swiss Army knife. He’s an undersized big, but he can also shoot. You can throw it to him when he has a mismatch on the block, and he’s a pick-and-pop big man, for sure. He can really shoot it.”
Four other Sharks scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Dominick Baptiste scored 20, and fellow sophomore guard Amir Rosa scored 17. Freshman guard Jordan Allen added 13, and freshman guard Andre Barnes finished with 10.
By the end of the game, 13 of the Sharks’ 15 players had at least 2 points.
The Crusaders scored first with a 3-pointer by Donovan Lightell off a turnover, but the Sharks went on a 9-0 run to take the lead. SEARK led the rest of the game.
Community tried to hang around, but SEARK fully pulled away with a 13-0 run which ended with a Crusader timeout 4:51 before halftime, at which point SEARK led 45-20. The Sharks went on to lead 59-33 at halftime.
Neither team had a noteworthy run in the second half until the Sharks had a 19-2 run in the late minutes of the game.
Lightell led Community with 20 points. Kyle Thornton finished with 13, and Daniel Brusard scored 12. The Crusaders finished with eight 3-pointers.
Kline said the one thing the Sharks need to work on before the next game is their transition defense.
“It felt like when we got away from them a little bit and got an arm’s distance away from them, then we started giving too many easy baskets up,” Kline said. “I’ll give them credit. They made some shots as well. … They made a handful of 3s, for sure.”
SEARK will host Coahoma Community College on Friday as part of a doubleheader including the women’s team’s season opener.
