Fourth-year forward Kendall Seguignol led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed 6 rebounds to lead Stevenson’s men’s basketball team to an 84-63 victory against Messiah at the Owings Mills Gym, completing the Mustangs’ (11-12, 3-9 in the MAC) season sweep of the Falcons (4-19, 0-12).

Seguinol, who also pitched in with 2 steals and a blocked shot, provided tremendous energy off the bench that felt almost contagious. Seguinol made 7-of-11 field goals and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.

First-year guard David Pridgen’s effort was just as undeniable in the SU’s man-to-man defense and intensity on the glass. Pridgen scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Mustangs.

“Since coming back from injury, David’s really come along,” head coach Jack Bors said. “He’s one of our best defenders, he’s starting to shoot the ball a little better.”

First-year Jelani Lee also scored 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.

Kole Beaman dished out 5 assists and had a 6-point scoring spurt of his own as the game was getting further out of reach, turning a 58-40 Mustang lead into a 24-point margin.

In an email Bors provided his insight on the approach he intended to bring to the game.

“Messiah plays with a ton of pace and really looks to score the ball in transition,” Bors wrote. “Going into the first game, we talked a lot about taking care of the ball and taking great shots to ensure that we were limiting their transition offense. That is something we will look to build on.”

However, the random nature of a basketball game can ensure that even the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.

Messiah tried to initiate this brand of offense very early, as fast-break opportunities contributed to their first pair of scores and kept the game fairly close in the first half. The overall margins might have leveled out by the end of the game despite a 26-5 advantage in fast-break scores for the visitors.

That was due to tremendous on-ball defense from the onset, something that the team has wanted to pride themselves in all year long. Their ability to maintain discipline and execute proper defensive technique without fouling was masterful as it was proven difficult for Messiah to score against a set defense (36.2% from the field, 22.7% from three).

The Mustangs closed off the first half on a hot streak offensively as Pridgen, Seguignol and senior guard Myles Jackson handled the smooth offensive load on a 15-5 run that they never looked back from.

Once the Mustangs achieved their full head of steam, it proved too much for Messiah to handle. Stevenson had full control of the pace and also had the crowd of nearly 400 fans behind them as different plays gave way for Pridgen and Seguignol to showcase their great athleticism with some monster dunks on separate 11-4 and 12-4 runs in their favor.

The only thing that could have yielded a louder response from the crowd was Pridgen’s putback attempt over at least a pair of players if it was good to go, but it was just not meant to be.

Most importantly, the Mustangs were able to protect the ball and be aggressive on the defensive end, turning the ball over just 8 times and forcing 18 takeaways (14 points off of turnovers).

Outcomes like this can be a confidence builder, especially with how some end-of-game situations have played out over the past few. No person may represent that greater than freshman forward Jelani Lee, who had himself another solid offensive performance with 13 points and 5 rebounds to pair up with his exceptional defense.

“This is a really good offensive rebounding team we were playing against in Messiah,” Bors said. “They have a bunch of guys who really go to the glass. We did a great job today keeping these guys off the glass.”

First-years Bryce Matthews, Solomon Lewis and Ubi Kelly also saw the court towards the tail end of the game.

The Mustangs next take on Albright in Reading, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Women’s team defense holds down Messiah in 48-39 Falcon victory

After a wave of competitive volleyball games in the Mustang Classic, the gym was swarmed by a great number of people as basketball action got underway. The first matchup

However, the women’s basketball team (9-14, 6-6 in the MAC) dropped their matchup against MAC Commonwealth monster Messiah (19-4, 11-1 in the MAC) 48-39 in a slow-paced defensive struggle.

Sophomore guard Janiya Ennis led all Stevenson scorers with 8 points in a game where points were not even remotely at a premium on the offensive end. Fourth-year forward Kalea Wynter was the outright star on the glass, grabbing 10 rebounds in the match. Some of those efforts ended up making the game a little closer than it turned out to be, but the story of this one came down to a very slow start.

Sophomore guard Nadia Ferguson opened the game with a  3-pointer, but the offense nearly cratered after. It’s not to say that the defense was remotely out of rhythm for the Mustangs, as they were able to incorporate some of their strong suits.

“I think it’s our third game in a row starting off really slow on the offensive end and then trying to play catch-up,” head coach Jackie Boswell said. “If we want to be where we feel like we should be, we’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen in the next two games.”

The Mustangs surrendered some open 3-pointers, and at times, Messiah placed themselves in prime post positioning to open zones down low for high-percentage shots. Aside from the perimeter production (Messiah shot 35.7% from three), Stevenson was largely able to hold them in check with good resistance and help defense.

“Messiah’s a fundamental team, so we had to work really hard and make good passes,” Ferguson said. “I knew some of my shots weren’t falling, so I wanted to pick it up on the defensive end. Even if there wasn’t a steal to the layup, maybe there’s an energy boost. Just something to pick the team up.”

The overall tear in offensive production was spurred on by a streak of historical proportions, and not so much on the positive end.

The Mustangs fired too many errant shots, but they also had some truly great looks, including a few from Ferguson and second-year guard Anaya Price.

Messiah stifled Stevenson’s misdirection offense. Multiple Mustang possessions ended with rushed attempts near shot-clock violation range.

All in all, the Mustangs trailed by 15 at halftime as the slump continued briefly into the third quarter. Before senior forward Destiny Towns converted on a layup within this time, Stevenson started out hitting just three out of their attempts up to that point, which equals right around 9.3% from the field.

Still, Stevenson put forth a tremendous effort to trim it below a double-digit lead by the end of the game.

“We tried to pick it up on the defensive end. [The game] came close to the end, but we just couldn’t pull through,” Ferguson said. “I think if we can keep that defensive mindset throughout the next couple of games, we’ll be in a really good position.”

Next, the women’s basketball team will take on Albright College on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Owings Mills Gym.