DRAGONS FALL IN OVERTIME TO BARTON
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Leading by five points with 1:02 remaining in regulation, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team saw the Barton Cougars make two huge 3-pointers in the final 13 seconds to force overtime.
The Cougars then outscored Hutchinson 12-5 in the extra session and went on to defeat the Blue Dragons 102-95 in a Jayhawk West showdown on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons fall to 16-6 overall, 7-6 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson travels to Seward County on Saturday in Liberal. Barton maintains its share of first place in the league with an overall record of 18-4, 10-3 in the Jayhawk West.
The Blue Dragons trailed by nine points with 4:55 remaining in the first half and rallied to take a 45-43 lead at halftime after closing first half on a 14-2 run. The Blue Dragons raced out to a 67-56 lead with 10:45 to play in the second half and still led 72-65 after a D.J. Mitchell 3-pointer with 7:32 remaining in the second half. Barton answered with a 15-8 run and tied the game at 80 on Anthony Atkinson-Enneking jumper with 2:13 to play.
Down the stretch, the Blue Dragons didn't have a field goal in the final 1:50 of the game, but were 8 for 8 from the foul line. Two Jaden Okon free throws with 1:02 to play gave Hutch an 86-81 lead. Barton's Martin Vogts hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left to pull within one. Mitchell nailed a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left for an 88-84 lead. Vogts hit another three from the left corner to pull the Cougars within 88-87.
Clarence King nailed two more free throws with 4.6 seconds left for a 90-87 Hutch lead. Barton's Jaheim Holden then sped up the floor, spun away from a defender and nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime with the score tied at 90.
Majok Kuath scored first and then Josh Baker hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 93-92 Hutch lead with 4:05 left, but the Cougars outscored hutch 10-2 in the final 4 minutes of overtime to seal the win.
Mitchell scored 19 points to lead the Blue Dragons. He had four 3-pointers to five him 105 for his career, which is 11th on the career Blue Dragon 3-point list. He is two treys away from surpassing Keldrick Brooks and move into the career Top 10. Mitchell added six assists and five rebounds.
Okon scored a career-high 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the field and 3-3 from the line. Okon added four rebounds.
Baker and Saquan Singleton scored 12 points each for the Dragons. Singleton added five assists, four steals and two blocked shots. Tyler Brown finished with 10 points, hitting three first-half 3-pointers.
The Blue Dragons shot 50 percent for the 12th time this season, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor (33 of 65). The Dragons were 9 of 29 from 3-point range, only 3 of 10 in the second half and 0-3 in overtime. The Dragons were 20 of 29 from the free-thrown line. Hutchinson was out-rebounded 43-31 and had 19 turnovers.
Barton shot 52.7 percent for the game (39 of 74), hitting 12 of 28 from 3-point range and 12 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Cougars had 20 turnovers.
Keandre Bowles is the second opponent to score 30 points against the Blue Dragons, going for 31 points on 12 of 19 shooting. Holden finished with 19 points and six assists. Vogts had four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Mavrick Gildyard had 13 points and Atkinson-Enneking added 10.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 0-2 in overtime this season, but are still 20-5 in overtime in the Steve Eck era. … The Blue Dragons are 87-28 all-time against Barton, 3-2 in overtime games. … The Blue Dragons lost their fifth game of the season when leading at halftime. They are now 13-5. … Hutch is now 2-5 in games decided by nine point or less. … The Dragons are 9-3 when shooting 50 percent or better. The last team to score 100 points against Hutchinson was Barton, which scored 102 last season in Great Bend.