SURGING DRAGONS DEFEAT SAINTS IN REGULAR-SEASON FINALE

D.J. Mitchell hit a pair of big second-half 3-pointers and scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Blue Dragon men to a 67-47 win over Seward County on Saturday at the Sports Arena. (Nathan Addis/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

February 22, 2020

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team goes into the postseason winning 5 of its final 6 games after Saturday's night's 67-47 Jayhawk West victory over Seward County at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons rallied from a one-point halftime deficit and used one of their top defensive efforts of the season to do.

Hutchinson held Seward County to just 31.3 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. The 47 points scored by Seward County tied a series-low output against Hutchinson. The Blue Dragons also limited Seward County to 47 points on Feb. 13, 1982.

The Blue Dragons close the regular season with a 22-8 record. Going 13-8 in conference play, the Dragons tied Pratt for third place in the Jayhawk West, but will have the fourth seed out of the West because Pratt won the tiebreaker with Hutchinson. The Blue Dragons will play host to the opening round of the Region VI Tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

Hutchinson trailed by as many as eight points, shooting only 29 percent in the opening 20 minutes. The Dragons battled back, though and trailed just 23-22 at halftime. The Blue Dragons found their offensive stride in the second half, outscoring the Saints 45-24. The Dragons shot 57.7 percent while holding the Saints to 28.6 shooting in the second half.

Sophomore D.J. Mitchell scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Blue Dragons. He had a pair of 3-pointers and was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Freshman Josh Baker knocked down 3 for 5 from distance and finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. Freshman Josh Ursery came off the bench to score in double figures for the second-straight game with 11 points. Freshmen Clarence King and Majok Kuath had nine points each.

The Blue Dragons finished shooting 24 of 57 overall (42.1 percent), going 7 of 14 from 3-point range and 12 of 16 from the free-throw line. The Dragons owned a 45-33 rebounding advantage, Saquan Singleton pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Hutch still had to overcome 20 turnovers.

Seward County shot 20 of 64 overall and 5 of 23 from 3-point range. Branton McCray had nine points. Stephen Takyi and Ahmed Ibraham had eight points each.

The Blue Dragons suffered through a scoreless drought of 4 minutes, 45 seconds and trailed 16-11 after a McCrary basket with 8:58 to play. Seward County put together a 14-2 run and built its largest lead of 21-13 after a Roy Clarke 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining in the first half.

The Blue Dragons then went on a run of nine unanswered points over the next 4 minutes and took a 22-21 lead on a King 3-pointer with 3:44 remaining in the half. McCrary countered to give the Saints a 23-22 lead with 3:18 remaining.

Those were the final points scored by either team in the half. The Dragons closed the half with seven-straight turnovers, while Seward was 0 of 7 with two turnovers to close the half.

The Saints score the first points of the second half to build a 3-point lead, but a Mitchell 3-pointer tied the game at 25 with 18:36 to play. Mitchell hit two free throws on Hutchinson's next possession and the Blue Dragons never relinquished the lead again.

Two more Mitchell free throws upped the Dragon lead to 33-25 with 16:46 to play. Seward County later pulled within 40-37 after two Surakata Jawara free throws with 11:37 remaining. King scored inside to stop that Saint' advance.

Leading 44-39 with 10:11 to play, Hutchinson held Seward County to just eight points for the remainder of the game. The Saints were 4 of 16 in the final 10 minutes of the game, missing their final seven shot attempts. Meanwhile, the Blue Dragons started to pull away with an 11-0 run and took a 55-39 lead after an Ursery jumper with 6:12 to play

Hutchinson outscored Seward County 23-8 in the final 10 minutes.

GAME NOTES – The victory was head coach Steve Eck's 150th Jayhawk Conference-designated game at Hutchinson (regular-season league games only). … The Blue Dragons own a 78-31 all-time record over Seward County, 46-6 at the Sports Arena. … This was all-time win No. 1,828 for Hutch basketball. … D.J. Mitchell moves into a fifth-place tie on the all-time Blue Dragon 3-point list. He is tied with Durrall Peterson with 115 3-pointers. … Josh Baker is now fifth on the single-season 3-point list with 71, moving past Darius Johnson-Odom. … This was Saquan Singleton's third career game with 12 or more rebounds. … The Dragons are now 3-2 when trailing at halftime.