RAVEN BUZZER-BEATER SINKS BLUE DRAGONS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

COFFEYVILLE – T.J. Washington hit a contest 15-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded to lead Coffeyville to a 72-70 upset victory of the No. 12 Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team on Saturday night at Nellis Hall.

Curtis Hollis hit two free throws to tie the game at 70 with 29.6 seconds left. After burning a timeout to keep possession with 3.5 seconds to play, Washington took the inbound pass deep in the backcourt, drove hard with his left hand and pulled up with a hand in his face, getting the shot to drop as the buzzer sounded with the game-winner.

Hutchinson and Coffeyville split their season series. Both teams have identical 17-4 records overall and 13-4 marks in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons and Ravens are now two games behind first-place Barton, which won a one-point decision at Seward County on Saturday.

Sophomore Devonte Bandoo led the Blue Dragons with 24 points, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

Sophomore J.J. Rhymes finished with 16 points. He moved passed Todd Christian into 16th place on the Blue Dragon career scoring list (1,025 points).

Sophomore Sal Nuhu finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Hollis had eight points.

The Blue Dragons finished 22 of 58 shooting (37.9 percent), hitting only 4 of 21 from 3-point range and 22 of 34 at the free-throw line.

Hutchinson suffered its worst single-game rebounding differential this season after Coffeyville out-rebounded the Dragons 49-38.

Anthony Jones led Coffeyville with 17 points on 4 of 17 shooting but was 9 of 9 from the foul line. Marvin Johnson had 16 points, Casey Benton had 15 and Washington finished with 12 points.

Coffeyville finished the game 23 of 66 shooting (34.8 percent). The Ravens hit a Blue Dragon opponent-low 3 of 19 from 3-point range and 23 of 33 from the free-throw line.

The Blue Dragons got off to a nice start with the game's first seven points. But the Ravens rallied to tie the game at 15 on a Johnson 3-pointer with 9:04 to play in the opening half. The Dragons scored the next six points to lead 21-15 after a Nuhu jumper with 6:35 left and eventually built an eight-point lead after a Bandoo 3-pointer with 5:23 to go gave the Dragons a 26-18 lead.

Coffeyville game back with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 28 after a Johnson jumper with 1:56 left to play. Hutch had two more two-point leads in the half on layups by Rhymes and Hollis, but the Ravens tied the game at 32 after two Washington free throws with 28 seconds left in the half.

Coffeyville led 41-34 with 15:23 to play after Washington scored going to the basket. Hutch answered back with a 13-2 run and led 47-43 after a Bandoo jumper with 12:43 to play. The Ravens again built a 51-47 lead with 9:15 left. Bandoo then hit two free throws, was fouled on a made 3-pointer for a four-point play and hit another trey for a 56-53 lead with 7:57 left.

Hutchinson trailed 70-66 with 1:38 to go. Bandoo hit two free throws with 1:27 left to cut the lead to two. The Ravens then missed four-straight free throws, which allowed Hollis' free throws with 29.6 seconds left to tie the game at 70.

The Blue Dragons play host to Neosho County at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

GAME NOTES – This was Hutchinson's first loss at Nellis Hall in three games. … The Blue Dragons are now 27-20 all-time against Coffeyville, 7-10 in Coffeyville. … The Blue Dragons are 0-2 in games when tied at halftime. … The 22 made field goals tied a season low for the Dragons. … This tied for the second-worst offensive output this season. … Devonte Bandoo had his fifth 20-point game this season and four with three or more 3-point goals.