KING PROVIDES NEEDED SPARK FOR DRAGONS TO DOWN DODGE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Leading by as many as 12 points early, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team was struggling to hold off the Dodge City Conquistadors, who were making a late first-half run and pulled within two points in a Jayhawk West battle Wednesday night.

Needing a spark, freshman Clarence King came off the bench and provided just what the Blue Dragons needed. King had four points, an assist and a couple of steals in a pivotal 13-0 run as the Blue Dragons earned a key Jayhawk West win over the Conquistadors at the Sports Arena.

King tied career highs with 12 points and five rebounds and he also dished out four assists in 20 minutes to pace the Blue Dragons to a 92-75 win over Dodge City.

The Blue Dragons improve to 16-4 overall and 7-4 in the Jayhawk West as the regular season reached the two-thirds mark. The victory gave Hutchinson its 800th Jayhawk Conference-designated victory. Dodge City dropped to 8-12 overall and 0-11 in the KJCCC West.

Hutchinson scored the game's first seven points and built a 15-3 lead after a Majok Kuath tip-in with 15:09 remaining in the first half. Dodge City wouldn't go away, eventually pulling within 24-20 with 9:56 to play in the first half on a Myron Washington layup. Matt Mayers pushed the Hutch lead back to 33-25 on his point-blank bucket with 6:02 to go. Back came the Conquistadors, who pulled within 33-31 on a Miles Ray inside hoop with 4:17 to play in the half.

Hutchinson's key 13-0 run started quietly enough with two Saquan Singleton free throws and gained momentum with a Tyler Brown three-point play with 3:04 to go. King entered the fray and the pace of play picked up. King had back-to-back transition layups, got an assist on a Singleton transition hoop. He also keyed two other breaks with steals. When Singleton tipped in his own miss with 1:35 to go in the half, the 13-0 run was complete and Hutch led 46-31. The Dragons led 46-33 at halftime.

Kuath hit 8 of 10 field goals and scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Blue Dragons against Dodge City. Kuath added seven rebounds and a blocked shot.

Singleton and Josh Baker had 16 points each. Singleton also had nine assists and six rebounds. Baker hit 4 of 6 3-point shots and had six rebounds.

King's 12 points came on 4 of 8 shooting, 4 of 4 from the free-throw line and he had three steals.

The Blue Dragons shot 34 of 69 from the floor (49.3 percent), hitting 4 of 15 from 3-point range and 20 of 28 from the free-throw line. Rebounding was even at 49-49, but the Blue Dragons gave up 20 or more offensive rebounds for the second-straight game, giving up 23 to Dodge City.

The Conquistadors were limited to 31.8 percent overall (27 of 85). Dodge City was just 12 of 42 (28.6 percent) in the first half. The Conquistadors hit 7 of 32 3-pointers and 14 of 18 free throws.

Quindaris Thomas had 16 points to lead Dodge City. Ray and Keldrick Hayes had 12 points each and Kevin McCaskey had 10 points and eight assists for Dodge City.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 120-64 all-time against Dodge City, including 58-26 in games played in Hutchinson. … This was all-time win No. 1,822 in Blue Dragon history. … The Blue Dragons held their 14th opponent to less than 40 percent shooting this season. … Hutch had 56 points in the paint against Dodge City, which ties a season high (Cowley). … Josh Baker now had 53 3-pointers this season. He is just nine three pointers shy of joining the Blue Dragon single-season Top 10 for 3-point goals. … Saquan Singleton had his fifth career game of eight or more assists. … Baker had his seventh game or four or more 3-pointers. … Majok Kuath produced his seventh game this season where he shot 80 percent or better from the floor. … The Blue Dragons are 800-321 in conference-designated games.