Seymour’s boys basketball team secured its first winning record in 16 seasons with an overwhelming 63-26 victory over Madison on Wednesday night.

The Owls (12-6) led the game from start to finish, jumping to a quick 8-0 lead before carrying a 35-15 advantage into halftime. Seymour built its lead to 40 in the fourth quarter, tripping the automatic running clock for the first time, before settling for the 37-point win.

That margin of victory is the widest of Kirk Manns’ three seasons as Seymour’s head coach and the largest difference in an Owl win since January of 2007 (38 points in a win over South Decatur).

Nine different Owls scored points with Eli Meyer (14 points) and Landon Fritsch (13) leading the way.

“I thought our maturity as a group showed tonight,” Manns said. “We’re getting good basketball out of a lot more guys. A lot of guys played well for us over the last two nights.”

Wednesday’s win was a welcome salve to soothe raw emotions lingering from a heart-breaking two-point loss at Greensburg on Tuesday night, a game that featured 17 lead changes. The Owls led by two with less than a minute on the clock but couldn’t hold off the Pirates.

“A lot of things didn’t go our way last night, but we still had a chance there at the end,” Manns said. “That would have been a good win for us, but it didn’t work out. We didn’t move backwards last night, we definitely moved forward. All you can do is respond and that’s what we did tonight. That’s what’s important.”

The Owls’ 12 wins match the number of victories earned by the 2017-18 team that finished with a 12-12 record.

The last Seymour boys team to finish with a winning mark was the Scott Miller-coached 2006-07 squad that boasted a 15-7 record. With three games remaining on their regular-season schedule, this year’s Owls have a mathematical chance to match that win total.

On Wednesday night, Seymour didn’t waste any time grabbing control against Madison (5-14). Fritsch knocked down two 3-pointers to give the Owls an early 6-0 lead. The junior added two more 3s later in the quarter to expand Seymour’s advantage 14-7.

Layups by Meyer and Andrew Levine gave the Owls a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Seymour outscored Madison 16-6 in the second quarter to swell the difference to 20, effectively ending any comeback hopes for the Cubs.

Levine finished with eight points, while Marcus Brooks and Charlie Longmeier each had seven. Bret Perry came off the bench and scored five points.

Defensively, the Owls badgered Madison into 23 turnovers and never allowed the Cubs to score in double digits in any quarter.

Wednesday’s effort marked the fifth time in the last 10 games that Seymour limited its opponent to less than 30 points.