The Nevada Tigers knew they would have their hands full with a senior-laden Seneca Indian team. While the final score might not show it, for the majority of the game this was an exciting night of basketball between two teams that really like to get up and down the court.
The game started off a little sloppy, with both teams coming up empty in their opening possessions, but Seneca would get the scoring going and make the Tigers fight an uphill battle the entire game, never relinquishing the lead. Jack Cheaney tied the game at 2 with a nice drive and take, but Seneca would hit back-to-back 3’s in their next two possessions as they showed their perimeter skills from multiple different players. A Kellen Braden 3-pointer would get Nevada back within 3, at 8-5, and the Tigers got some really good looks at the basket, but as Coach Shaun Gray would mention after the game, “we struggled to finish around the basket and we also struggled with silly turnovers. Seneca is a physical and athletic team, and we let that physicality bother us too much.” While they had their struggles, this team continued to drive and work for some buckets with Kellen Braden and Riddick Shook both able to find the bottom of the net keeping the game within the Tigers’ reach as time ran out in the 1st quarter with a score of Seneca 14, and Nevada 11.
The Indians would strike first in the 2nd quarter, but Jack Cheaney would take the ball down on Nevada’s next possession and bank one in. On the very next play, Brice Budd would show his defensive spark with a steal and lay-up to get the Tigers back within 1, at 15-16. As Seneca did all night when Nevada seemed to be coming alive they would nail a 3-pointer to extend the lead quickly back to 4. With just over 3 minutes to go in the quarter, the score was 15-20, and Brice Budd found Gabe Smith for a perfect 3 right in front of the Seneca bench. In a battle of wills, the Indians would knock down a bucket with their next inbound play, and then Brice Budd would bring it down for the Tigers catching the Indians a little out of sequence for an easy lay-up. Nevada continued to work and put up a strong defensive stop and Jack Cheaney would find Brice Budd for an open 3-pointer to once again get the Tigers within 1 at 23-24. Another set of back-to-back Indian 3’s would push the lead quickly back to 7 with just under a minute to go in the first half. Gabe Smith hit his 2nd 3 of the quarter to get it back within 4, but the Indians simply refused to give much ground hitting another basket before the buzzer for a 32-26 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
A quick Indian bucket would start the scoring in the 3rd quarter to take the lead to 8, and 3 different Nevada players would make great cuts to the basket but would be unable to finish the play with a bucket. The Indians would take advantage of this drought and convert on their end, quickly extending the lead to 12 at 38-26 before a Jack Cheaney jumper would stop the bleeding for the Tigers with 4:30 left to go in the quarter. Strong drives by Jack Cheaney and Brice Budd wouldn’t fall but did get them both to the free throw line where they went 4 for 4, which gave the Tigers a chance to put some points on the board while the clock was stopped and cut the lead back down to single digits. A Kellen Braden steal would lead to a Brice Budd drive and lay-up quickly getting the Tigers right back into the game with just over 2:30 remaining in the 3rd. Both teams began struggling to convert their game plans as play began getting a little sloppy, possibly due to the pace of the game up to this point and players who had been stuck inside for a few days due to arctic temperatures visiting southwest Missouri and closing down roads and schools. The Tigers would be able to get back within 6 with a score of 34-41 going into the final 8 minutes of play.
The Tigers were unable to keep their momentum as a quick turnover to open the 4th quarter would give Seneca an opportunity to try and score. Nevada did recover well with a strong defensive rebound by Jack Cheaney who made a great outlet pass to Brice Budd who made a quick assist to Uche Mba who would go up strong with the ball and get a basket, foul and made free throw pulling the Tigers quickly back within 4. This seemed to be the number the Tigers struggled to get past as Seneca on their next play would nail another 3-pointer to extend the lead back out to 7 with just around 5:30 left in the game. Turnovers became a huge issue for the Tigers as Seneca would take advantage of almost every one of them by scoring buckets on the other end quickly taking the lead back up to double digits. Brice Budd would stop the Seneca run with a lay-up and Nevada would call a quick time-out around the 4:15 mark. The time seemed to be flying off the clock as the Indians began their stall game that took huge minutes off the clock and then added an exclamation point with an easy lay-up from a hole in the back of the defense. Brice Budd would get one more lay-up before the Indians would knock down 2 free throws and then both teams began clearing off their benches as time ran out with a final score of Seneca 57, Nevada 41.
On the defensive end, Coach Gray would mention after the game that “our guys drew charges and we thought maybe even a couple that didn’t get called. We need to do more of that to make up for our lack of size. Brice Budd brought a lot of energy at the top of our zone and Kellen Braden got his hands on several passes to help us stay close.” He felt that his Tigers “kept battling but it seems like we ran out of gas a bit late in the 4th quarter.” The Indians were able to keep Nevada’s top scorer Jack Cheaney from hitting any treys on the night which is a rarity, but Coach would mention that “Gabe Smith hit some big 2nd quarter 3’s” and Brice Budd and Kellen Braden each knocked down one apiece.
The Tigers have shown throughout the season that they are the strongest when able to move the ball around efficiently and work to find the best shot. The Indians were able to take Nevada out of rhythm with their length and overall athleticism, but the final score doesn’t reflect the level of basketball game this was for all but the last 4-6 minutes. 6 of the 8 Nevada Tigers that played the majority of the game were able to find the scoring column with Brice Budd leading the way with 15 as the only Tiger to reach double digits. Jack Cheaney had 8, Gabe Smith had 6, Kellen Braden had 5, Riddick Shook had 4, and Uche Mba rounded out the scoring with 3.
While Nevada is frustrated to drop down to 1-1 in the conference, they won’t have any time to hang their heads as they will jump right into a very competitive Frontenac 4 States Raider Classic Tournament on Thursday, taking on Piedmont out of Oklahoma, and a chance to see the Seneca Indians again before the weekend is over with both of them placed on the same side of the bracket.
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