BAKER’S BIG NIGHT HELPS DRAGONS RALLY PAST PIRATES

Josh Baker posts career highs of 29 points and seven 3-pointers to lead the No. 2 Blue Dragons to a come-from-behind 85-83 at Independence on Saturday. (Nathan Addis/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

November 30, 2019

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

INDEPENDENCE – Trailing at halftime for the only the second time this season, the No. 2-ranked Hutchinson Community College had to rally from its largest deficit of the season to remain unbeaten.

Freshman Josh Baker had career bests of 29 points and seven 3-pointers keep the Blue Dragons in the game in the first half and led the second-half charge as No. 2 Hutchinson earned an 85-83 Jayhawk Conference road victory on Saturday night at the ICC Fieldhouse.

The Blue Dragons improve to 10-0 to start a season for the 13th time in program history. Hutch is now 2-0 in the Jayhawk West. Independence drops to 9-2 and 1-1 in the Jayhawk East.

Baker hit three 3-pointers in the first half to keep the Blue Dragons in the game after trailing by as many as 11 points in the opening 20 minutes. Baker then added four more 3-pointers and went 7 of 8 for the game from distance to lead the second-half comeback.

Baker's seven 3-pointers ties Bashir Ahmed and Tiylar Cotton for the second-most 3-pointers by an individual in single-game Blue Dragon history.

The Blue Dragons were 9 of 15 from 3-point range and shot 16 of 24 overall (66.7 percent) in the second half. Hutchinson outscored Independence 53-40 to overcome a 43-32 halftime deficit, the largest of the season.

Independence used an 11-0 run in the first half to build a 20-9 lead over the Blue Dragons. Hutch shot just 33 percent and had 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

Still, the Blue Dragons faced their largest deficit of the game at 51-39 with 15:55 to play in the second half. The comeback started with a pair of Baker threes and a D.J Mitchell short jumper in the lane to pull within 56-49 with 14:15 to play.

Mitchell knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 65 with 10:15 to play. Mitchell then hit a pair of free throws with 9:46 left to give the Dragons the lead for good. That lead grew to as big as six points at 76-70 after a Tyler Brown steal and layup with 5 ½ minutes to go.

The Dragons then had to hold off the Pirates. Saquan Singleton and Majok Kuath both scored in the final 90 seconds to give the Dragons four-point leads. But with Hutch up 85-83, the Pirates had the final possession of the game.

With 2.1 seconds to play, the Pirates inbounded from the baseline, but committed their 18th turnover of the game to seal the Blue Dragon win, the 13th-straight over Independence.

Three Dragons scored in double figures.

Mitchell scored all 16 of his points in the second half, hitting 2 of 4 from long range and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Singleton had 16 points with six rebounds and three assists. Brown and Kuath had nine points each.

The Blue Dragons finished shooting 49.0 percent for the game (24 of 49) and 28 of 33 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Independence 35-34 and overcame 18 turnovers.

Tonje Durham hit 4 of 7 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 25 points to lead Independence. Zahir Porter had 16 points, while Time Dalger and Demetric Horton had 10 points each.

Independence shot 42.3 percent (30 of 71), hitting 10 of 29 from 3-point range and 17 of 18 from the foul line.

The Blue Dragons are now 49-23 all-time against Independence, including 12-10 at the ICC Fieldhouse.