D'Marqueyon Whittington had a breakout game in his first start of the season on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, as the Spartans faced Ellsworth on the Panthers' home court.  Former fellow Lincoln, NE, teammate and current Spartan teammate Rasheed Barze had his turn in a 103-81 victory over NJCAA DII #16 Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), on Wednesday, Jan. 24. This was the Spartans' fifth straight over the Bears of DMACC. 

Barze came off the bench to score 25 points on just nine shot attempts and added two rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block to his evening. Not to be outdone, leading scorer Terence Shelby, Jr. paced Southwestern with 31 points and 11 rebounds for another double-double. 

"Rasheed brought great energy and production off the bench," said Spartan Head Coach Todd Lorensen. "We've seen him do this regularly in a practice setting so it was great to see in a game.  As for Terence, we've come to expect this production from him."

A 14-7 start to the second half improved their lead from 53-39 to 67-46. DMACC cut the lead to nine at one point before a big Southwestern run put them at bay during the final minutes.

The win improved Southwestern, ranked #13 in NJCAA DII, to 16-4 overall and 3-1 in ICCAC play.  They hit the road on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, for a key ICCAC match up against Kirkwood, who is 3-0 in league play.  The tip is 3 p.m.