Box Score <%--Men's B-Ball vs Seward, Region 6 Playoff Gallery--%>WICHITA, Kan. – Jamie Batish scored 17 points to lead three Panthers in double figures as Neosho fell 73-68 to Seward County in the Region VI quarterfinals Thursday night at Koch Arena.
 
Sophomore Niem Stevenson scored a game high 28 points as top seeded Seward County (23-9) advanced to the Region VI semifinals Friday night.
 
Playing in Wichita for the first time since 2005, the Panthers came out and opened up a 9-2 lead in the early minutes of the game. Foul trouble early forced Jeremy Coombs to go to his bench and Seward County responded with a 12-1 run to take a 14-10 lead.
 
Neosho would tie the game up again at 16 on a put back by Henry Buckley and a basket by Kyler Steadman before Seward County once again regained the lead.
 
After a 5-0 Seward County run, Kyler Steadman would go 5-6 from the line in the final two minutes to tie the game back up at 33 heading into the half.
 
The second half would stay tight for the first 10 minutes as both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense on a night that saw the teams combine for 45 turnovers.
 
BJ Jenkins went to the line twice for the Panthers and connected on 1 of 2 each time to get Neosho within 2 at 57-55 with just over 7:30 minutes to play.
 
The Panthers would then go cold from the floor and Seward County went on a 10-1 run over the next 5 minutes to open their largest lead of the night at 11 points.  A pair of free throws from Steadman and a three from Jamie Batish got the Panthers within six, but that would be as close as they got.
 
The Panthers connected on just 32.1 percent (18-56) from the field for the night. Jamie Batish connected on 5-7 of his attempts from 3-point range, but the rest of the team combined to shoot just 11.1 percent (1-9) from behind the arc.
 
Kyler Steadman finished with 12 points and BJ Jenkins added 11 in the loss. Jayhawk East Defensive Player of the Year Joe Acuil blocked six shots on the night to go with 9 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The Panthers finish the season with a 21-11 record. The 21 wins are the most in Jeremy Coombs career, and the most since the Panthers won 26 games in 2004-05.