FAST START PROPELS DRAGONS TO ATRIUM BLOWOUT OF LABETTE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

One year ago, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team needed two free throws with 3 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and eventually defeat the Labette Cardinals.

Saturday night at the Atrium Classic at the Sports Arena, The No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons took any drama there was to me out of the game in the first 5 1/2 minutes.

Hutchinson scored the game's first 13 points in building a 30-point halftime lead and ultimately blew out Labette 100-54 to close out the Atrium Classic.

The Blue Dragons improve to 4-0 overall and 33-14 all-time against Labette. The 46-point margin of victory over the Cardinals is the second-largest in series history. Hutch defeated Labette by 59 points in 2001 (110-59).

Four different players scored in Hutch's initial 13-0 run – Tyler Brown hit a 3-pointer, Saquan Singleton had a basket and went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line, D.J. Mitchell had a three-point play and two more free throws later in the run and Majok Kuath scored with 14:29 to play to give the Dragons a 13-0 lead.

Labette didn't score until Tyler Garrett hit a 3-pointer at the 13:21 mark of the first half. Garrett hit another 3-pointer with 9:51 to in the opening half to make it 18-8 Hutch. From that point, the Blue Dragons outscored Labette 25-5.

Hutch led 43-13 at halftime shooting 13 of 32 from the field with three 3-pointers and 14 of 17 from the free-throw line. Labette was just 5 of 39 with eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The Blue Dragons were very balanced with six players scoring in double figures.

Josh Ursery led a huge 52-18 Blue Dragon advantage in points off the bench with a team-high 17 points. Ursery was 5 of 9 from the floor and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Brown finished with 13 points, three steals and two assists. Josh Baker hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. D.J. Mitchell, Clarence King and Kuath had 11 points each. Singleton finished with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Blue Dragons shot a season-low 47.9 percent (35 of 73), going 5 of 14 from 3-point range and 25 of 30 from the free-throw line.

The Blue Dragons had a huge 64-35 rebounding advantage with 19 offensive rebounds. The Dragons outscored Labette 54-24 in the paint. Hutch did commit 23 turnovers.

Labette shot a frigid 25.6 percent from the field (20 of 78), hitting 4 of 25 from 3-point range and 10 of 14 from the foul line. He Cardinals were led by Toraze Dobbs' 17 points.

The Blue Dragon men will play their final home game for two weeks at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when the NEO Golden Norse come to the Sports Arena.