12/2/2009
By BOB DAVIDSON Salina Journal
Tying the record for career victories by a Kansas men's junior college basketball coach doesn't have as much meaning to Francis Flax as what the Lions' win symbolizes.

"The meaning it has is we're winning games," Flax said with a smile Tuesday night following Brown Mackie's 90-67 conquest of Southeast Nebraska at Banes Gymnasium. "We needed to catch fire and we seem to be doing that right now."

Flax is now tied with former Cloud County coach Dennis Erkenbrack with 502 career victories. A win over the Central Christian junior varsity Friday at Banes Gym will make Flax the winningest junior college men's coach in Kansas.

No game is a foregone conclusion, but Brown Mackie figures to push Flax over the top Friday -- a fact Flax concedes.

"The only thing I don't like about it is the opponent. It's going to be a ho-hum game, we already know that, I've got to prepare my kids for that, that they still have to come in and perform. The best thing about Friday night will be when it's over," he said.

For Flax, the Kansas achievement will take a backseat to a previous accomplishment.

"When I hit 500, that was good. That's the one I wanted," he said.

Victory No. 502 was something less that thrilling from a competitive standpoint. The Lions (4-6) used a 14-2 scoring run midway through the first half and closed out the half on a 20-9 surge that gave them a comfortable 47-26 lead.

Southeast Nebraska (7-4) got no closer than 16 in the second half.

Brown Mackie was white hot from the field, shooting 68 percent (34 of 50), including a scorching 75 percent (15 of 20) in the second half. The only downer was the Lions' woeful free throw shooting -- 14 of 32.

Ironically, they shot 50 percent from 3-point range (8 of 16).

Brian Word led Brown Mackie with 24 points and also had six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Robbie Lewis added 20 points, Kevin Timmons 17 points, five assists and five steals, and Joe Penn 15 points.

"We've been shooting the ball well, we're 50 percent on the season," Flax said. "Tonight 68 percent -- that will win games. One thing I liked about tonight was our effort. It was really good."

Southeast shot 42 percent (24 of 57) and was led by Brian Lewis, who scored 11. Alex West added 10.

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BMC women 69,

SE Nebraska 54

Neasha Haynes and Danielle Smith each had a double-double for Brown Mackie (4-5). Smith finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kristin Lorson nearly joined them, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Lions didn't shoot very well (25 of 70, 35.7 percent), but forced 27 turnovers and held Southeast (4-2) to 31.7 percent shooting (24 of 57).

Southeast used a special defense (box and one) geared toward stopping Haynes, who was 3 of 15 from the field, but hit 8 of 12 free throws and had four assists and four steals. Smith was 9 of 15 from the field and had three steals.

Brown Mackie led 31-21 at halftime.

"We didn't shoot the ball tremendously well tonight, but we locked down defensively and forced 27 turnovers," BMC coach Troy Thrasher said.

Thrasher was pleased with Haynes despite an off night shooting.

"Neasha's one of those girls who, even when the ball's not falling for her, does so many other things on the floor -- assists, blocked shots, taking care of the basketball, getting steals -- just doing those little things that help our team win.

"You get (Haynes and Smith) going and on the same page, and Kristin takes some pressure off by hitting some outside shots ... you get those three going and you've got a chance to win some games."

* Sports editor Bob Davidson can be reached at 822-1404, or by e-mail at bdavidson@salina.com