DRAGON COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST SEWARD COUNTY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team couldn't recover from a nightmarish start on Saturday night. But that's not to say the Blue Dragons didn't make it interesting.

Falling behind by as many as 19 points, the No. 13-ranked Blue Dragons pulled within two points of No. 15 Seward County with 3:05 remaining in the game. But the Saints took advantage of two missed free throws and a turnover on back-to-back Hutch possessions and defeated the Blue Dragon 87-79.

Hutchinson falls to 18-5 overall and 9-5 in the Jayhawk West. Hutch slips to third place in the West, two games behind first place Seward County. The Saints improve to 18-5 and 11-3 in league play.

The Dragons suffered through a miserable start, not getting their first field goal until 4 1/2 minutes into the game. By that time, Seward County had built a 14-2 lead. Hitting four 3-pointers in the first 9 1/2 minutes, Seward County built a staggering 19-point lead at 30-11.

That deficit was trimmed to 12 after a Boubacar Kamissoko layup in the final minute of the half. But Montrevion Flower nailed Seward County's seventh 3-pointer of the first half to take a 45-30 lead at halftime.

A Marco Morency 3-pointer with 11:51 to play, the Saints and rebuilt their 19 point lead at 68-49.

Hutchinson started its comeback with a 12-1 run over the next 3:30 to cut the Seward lead 69-61 with 8:22 remaining. The Blue Dragons extended that run to 23-6 and pulled within 74-72 after two Malique Jacobs free throws with 3:35 remaining.

After two Rheaquone Taylor free throws with 3:05 left pulled Hutch within 76-74, the Blue Dragons got a defensive stop, but faltered with two missed free throws and then a turnover on the next two possessions and Seward took advantage. Seward County finished just its sixth win ever over Hutch in the Sports Arena with a 11-5 run.

Hutchinson shot 51.0 percent for the game (26 of 51), hitting 3 of 11 from 3-point range and 24 of 42 from the free-throw line. The Dragons committed 22 turnovers.

Taylor finished with 17 points and James Rojas had 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. D.J. Mitchell had 15 points, hitting 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Saquan Singleton had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Devin Bethely finished with 23 points to lead Seward County. Isiah Small and Flowers had 15 points each.

Seward County shot 47.5 percent for the game (28 of 59) after shooting 53.1 percent in the first half. The Saints were 9 of 22 from 3-point range and 22 of 30 from the free-throw line.

Hutchinson plays host to Northwest Tech at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at t the Sports Arena.

GAME NOTES – Hutchinson is now 76-29, including 45-6 at the Sports Arena. … This was the second-straight game that Hutch has shot 50 percent in a game and lost. … Hutch is now 9-2 at home this season. … The Dragons are now 7-2 when shooting 50 percent or better. … The Dragons lose back-to-back games for the first time since the 2015-16 season.