DRAGONS STUNNED BY MAVERICKS IN OVERTIME
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GOODLAND – Northwest Tech shot 72.4 percent from the floor in the second half and overtime to rally and stun the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team on Wednesday night.
The Blue Dragons lost to Northwest Tech for the first time in seven meetings, dropping a 105-102 overtime decision at Max Jones Fieldhouse.
Hutchinson drops to 17-7 overall and 8-7 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson is now 0-3 in overtime games this season. Northwest Tech improves to 4-18 and 2-13, winning its second-straight game after losing 13 in a row.
The Blue Dragons led 43-25 with 4:13 remaining in the first half. That lead was still 50-40 at halftime, but Northwest Tech shot better than 51 percent in the opening half, which turned out to be a precursor of the remainder of the game.
The Mavericks shot a blistering 70.8 percent (17 of 24) in the second half and went 4 of 5 in overtime, nailing 3 of 3 3-pointers. The Blue Dragons shot 60 percent in the first half, but dropped to 43.3 percent in the second as the Mavericks outscored Hutchinson 49-39 in the period.
Ian Hardy did the damage for Tech in the second half, scoring 18 points in the second stanza. His basket with 4 seconds remaining in regulation gave Northwest Tech an 89-87 lead. The Blue Dragons countered by getting Josh Baker the ball at the top of the key and he drove to score at the buzzer and knot the game at 89-all.
The Mavericks got a huge left from Reece Warren in overtime, who hit three huge treys in the extra session. His third 3-pointer of overtime gave Tech a 101-98 lead with 45 seconds left to play. Hutchinson missed three key free throws in the final 2 minutes of overtime and couldn't overcome Tech's sizzling shooting in the extra period.
Sophomore D.J. Mitchell scored a career-high 31 points on 11 of 19 shooting to lead the Blue Dragons. He added eight rebounds. Mitchell had 16 points in the first half.
Baker finished with 20 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season. Sophomore Tyler Brown knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Saquan Singleton and Majok Kuath had 10 points each.
The Blue Dragons finished shooting 52.9 percent for the game (36 of 68). Hutch was 7 of 23 from 3-point range and 23 of 36 from the foul line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 34-25.
Northwest Tech became the first Blue Dragon opponent to shoot 60 percent in a game since Belleville Community College in 1990. Tech finished the game at 62.5 percent (34 of 56), going 11 of 21 from 3-point range and 24 of 36 from the free-throw line. Tech had 21 turnovers to Hutchinson's 10.
Hardy finished with 21 points to lead the Mavericks. Warren hit 5 of 7 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. Pierles Brown had 15 points, C.J. Rosser had 14 points and Keyshawn Kennedy had 11 points.
With the game tied at 17-all in the first half, the Blue Dragons exploded for a 26-8 run over a span of 8 minutes, 12 seconds to lead 43-25 after a Kuath free throw with 4:13 to play. Tech cut that deficit to nine before Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 1:11 to play. Tech scored the final points of the half and Hutchinson led 50-40.
That lead disappeared in the first 7 minutes of the second half as the Mavericks outscored Hutch 19-10 to start the half and take a 60-59 lead on a Brown 3-pointer with 13:07 to play.
There were 13 lead changes and 12 ties in the game.
Hutchinson plays host to Garden City at 4 p.m. on Saturday for Spring Homecoming.
GAME NOTES – Hutchinson is now 6-1 all-time against Northwest Tech. … The Blue Dragons are 0-3 in overtime this season, but are still 20-6 in the Steve Eck era. … With three assists against Northwest Tech, Saquan Singleton moved into a tie for eighth place on the career assists list with Keldrick Brooks (1994-96) with 130. … D.J. Mitchell is now tied for eighth on the career 3-point list with Aaron Lashley with 108. … Hutchinson is now 3-5 in road games and 14-6 when leading at halftime. … Mitchell's 31-points game included a career-high 11 field goals and a career-high-tying eight rebounds.