MITCHELL’S GAME -WINNER COMPLETES COMEBACK VS. PRATT

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team faced an uphill battle all night against the Pratt Beavers at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons trailed by as many as eight in the first half, by one points at halftime and trailed by five points with 3:59 to play in the second half.

No. 9 Hutchinson managed to tie the game in the final minute and D.J. Mitchell hit an NBA-length 3-pointer with 22 second, adding a pair of free throws with 7 seconds to play, for a come-from-behind 60-57 victory over the Beavers.

The Blue Dragons improve to 16-3 overall and 7-3 in the Jayhawk West. They are also 3-0 in games following a loss. Pratt drops to 8-11 and 1-9. Saturday was the first time in four teams that the Blue Dragons won when trailing at halftime.

Hutchinson immediately found itself down by five points right out of the chute and never led in the first half. Pratt built a 31-23 lead with 2:59 to play in the opening half after a Jerome Bivins 3-pointer. That led to the key stretch that kept Hutch in the game. The Dragons closed the first half on a 7-0 run to pull within 31-30 by halftime.

Fred Odhiambo's free throw tied the game and Tyler Brown's 3-pointer gave Hutch its first lead at 34-31 with 19:06 to play in the second half. The game was back and forth from there with seven lead changes and three ties over the next 12 minutes. Malique Jacobs gave Hutch a 49-48 lead with a drive to the hoop with 7:41 to go. Pratt countered with a 7-1 run to lead 55-50 with 3:59 remaining.

The Blue Dragons then held Pratt scoreless for the next 3 minutes, 50 seconds – Pratt didn't have a field goal in the final 4:26 – Rheaquone Taylor's tough inside basket with 2:01 left tied the game at 55. Neither team could score the go-ahead basketball until Mitchell unloaded a long 3-point attempt from the left wing with 22 seconds left to give Hutch a 58-55 lead.

Pratt's only points of the final 3:50 came with 9 seconds to play on two Drew Maschoff free throws. Mitchell matched those with two free throws with 6.8 seconds left and Pratt couldn't get a final 3-point shot to drop on the final possession of the game.

Mitchell scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Blue Dragons. He was 1 of 7 on 3-pointers until his game-winning shot.

Taylor had his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebound. Boubakar Kamissoko and Odhiambo finished with seven points each.

The Blue Dragons were just 15 of 45 shooting (33.3 percent), hitting 3 of 15 from 3-point range. Hutchinson hit 27 of 42 free throws, going 14 of 18 in the second half after missing 11 free throws in the first half. Hutchinson outrebounded Pratt 42-39, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds.

Pratt finished 20 of 63 shooting (31.7 percent), hitting 5 of 24 3-pointers and 12 of 21 from free-throw line.

Tyvon Taylor scored 15 points lead the Beavers. Maschoff had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Leading scorer Blake Furcron had 12 points.

The Blue Dragons travel to Dodge City on Wednesday.

GAME NOTES – This was the lowest combined scoring game – 117 combined points – since Jan. 22, 2000. … The Dragons won their eighth-straight game against Pratt and improve to 144-24 all-time against the Beavers. … This was all-time victory No. 1,796 for Blue Dragon basketball. … Head coach Steve Eck earned his 597th all-time NJCAA victory. … Taylor has four career double-doubles.