Coming off their first loss of the season, the Spartan men bounced back with a 93-71 non-conference win over Central Community College of Columbus, NE, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.  The victory completed a perfect non-conference season at 18-0 which includes victories over five NJCAA DI programs.  Southwestern defeated Central on November 19 in Columbus by a score of 83-67.

Freshman Alijah Thomas, who missed much of the early season due to injury, had his best game in his young career with 27 points on only 10 shots.  He was 6-8 from the arc and 5-6 from the foul line. 

"Alijah has been solid for us all year," said Spartan Head Coach Todd Lorensen.  "The people close to our program know he's a very capable scorer and I was happy to see him have a great night."

Lavon Hightower made his first start of the season in place of Brodric Thomas, who sat out due to a minor injury.  Hightower had 14 points and a team-high five rebounds.  Sophomore KeShawn Wilson had all 13 of his points in the second half and Jordan Johnson added 10 points.  Khallid Edwards had a team-high of four assists and zero turnovers.

The Spartans have five remaining regular season conference games beginning with a home match-up vs Ellsworth Community College on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.