DRAGONS AVENGE LOSS TO BARTON FOR 4TH-STRAIGHT WIN

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The trio of James Rojas, D.J. Mitchell and Malique Jacobs combined to score 58 points as the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team won its fourth game in a row Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons avenged a 17-point loss on January 30 and earned their first win over a ranked team this season as Hutchinson defeated No. 19 Barton 85-65 on Sophomore Night.

The Blue Dragons moved into a tie for second place in the Jayhawk West with Barton. Both teams have records of 23-6 overall and 14-6 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson closes out the regular season at newly crowned Jayhawk West champion Seward County on Wednesday. Barton goes to Garden City on Saturday.

Hutchinson used a 14-2 run midway through the first quarter to open a 25-14 lead with 6:50 to play in the first half. The Dragons led 38-28 at halftime.

The Dragons then had a 19-5 scoring run early in the second half to lead 55-37 after a Rojas layup with 10:37 to play. Barton then outscored Hutch 19-5 over the next 5 minutes to pull within 64-59 with 5:25 remaining.

Unlike the game on Jan. 30 at Great Bend where Hutch lost a 17-point lead in the first half to lose by 15, the Blue Dragons responded to the Cougar second-half run with an 18-6 to close the game out. Leading 72-63 with 2:45 left, Hutchinson finished off the Cougars with an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back transition layups from Jacobs and Chris Giles to build a 17-point lead with 1:15 left.

Rojas reached the 20-point mark for the fifth-straight game with a game-high 20 points to lead the Blue Dragons. Rojas was 7 of 14 shooting with a 3-pointer and posted his third career double-double with 10 rebounds. Rojas also dished out a career-best six assists and added four steals and two blocked shots. Rojas became the 31st Blue Dragon to reach the 800 career point plateau (816 points).

Mitchell and Jacobs came off the bench to lead a 46-6 scoring advantage off the bench.

Jacobs had 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Mitchell also had 19 points, going 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.

Hutchinson shot 29 of 65 overall (44.6 percent), hitting only 2 of 14 3-pointers, but nailing 22 of 26 free throws.

The Cougars were held to 38.2 percent overall shooting (26 of 68). The Cougars were 5 of 21 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 from the foul line.

Leondre Washington had 19 points. Elijah Ford had 19 points.

GAME NOTES – Hutch's current four-game win streak is the second longest this season. … The Dragons split the season series with Barton. Hutch now leads the overall series 87-27. … This was all-time win No. 1,803. … The Blue Dragons had 12 blocks, which marks the fifth time this season the Dragons had 10 or more blocks five times this season. The Dragons now have 177 blocked shots this season. … This was the 15th time the Dragons held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. … D.J. Mitchell tied a career high with three steals. …