DRAGONS CAN’T FEND OFF NO. 25 COLBY’S RALLY

Matt Mayers scores a career-high 11 points and adds six rebounds, but the Blue Dragons fall to No. 25 Colby 83-79 on Sunday in Colby. (Nathan Addis/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

January 26, 2020

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

COLBY – Leading by four points with 1:27 remaining in the second half on Sunday at No. 25 Colby, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team was in position to pick up a critical Jayhawk West road win.

But for the second time in the last three games, the Blue Dragons saw an opponent rally late and grab a win away from Hutchinson.

Colby closed on a 10-2 run over the final two-plus minutes and picked up its first win over Hutchinson since January 23, 2012, rallying for an 83-79 win at the Colby Community Building.

The Blue Dragons fall to 16-5 overall and are now 7-5 in the Jayhawk West with games against Barton at home on Wednesday and at Seward County on Saturday coming up. The Trojans snap a 15-game losing streak to the Blue Dragons and defeated Hutch for only the fifth time in 55 games played in the series.

Hutchinson dropped its fifth game of the season despite shooting 60.9 percent from the field. The Blue Dragons committed 19 turnovers and gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Colby scored 32 points with those extra possessions.

Still, the Blue Dragons looked primed to earn a victory on Sunday.

The Dragons trailed Colby 67-62 with 7:29 remaining in the second half before scoring five unanswered points on a Josh Baker 3-pointer and two Matt Mayers free throws. The Dragons grabbed a 70-69 lead on another Baker 3-pointer with 5:20 to go and extended it to 77-73 on a Tyler Brown layup with 2:42 to play. Brown scored again with 1:27 to play for a 79-75 lead.

From that point, the Dragons missed their final two shots and committed two turnovers on offensive fouls as Colby scored the final six points of the game.

The Blue Dragons are now 1-3 in games decided by five points or less.

Brown led the Blue Dragons with 19 points, going 6 of 9 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.

Sophomore Saquan Singleton finished with 17 points with six rebounds and six steals. Baker had 13 points and Mayers had a career-high 11 points.

Hutchinson hit 29 of 49 overall shots, going 5 of 11 from 3-point range and 16 of 21 from the 3-point line. Colby out-rebounded Hutch 30-26.

Eddie Davis scored 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting with seven rebounds to lead Colby, Demarcus Sharp had 23 points, going 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Javion May and Matt McFarlane had 10 points each.

Colby shot 50.0 percent for the game (32 of 64) – it's only the second time this season the Dragons have allowed 50 percent shooting in a game. The Trojans hit 8 of 17 3-pointers and were 11 of 16 from the foul line. Colby had just 13 turnovers.

Each team scored 48 points in the paint, but Colby outscored Hutch 22-15 in points off turnovers and 10-8 in second-chance points.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 0-2 against nationally ranked teams this season. … Colby defeated Hutchinson at the Colby Community Building for the first time since January 25, 2008 (11 games). … The Blue Dragons are now 13-4 when leading at halftime. … The Dragons are now 3-4 when getting out-rebounded in a game. … The Blue Dragons are 50-5 all-time against Colby, including 22-4 at Colby.