BLUE DRAGONS CLAIM SEASON-OPENING WIN OVER SEMINOLE STATE

Blue Dragon Sports Information

Josh Baker picked up where he left off last season and fellow sophomore Matt Mayers posted his first career double-double as the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team earned its eighth-straight season-opening victory on Friday night.

Mayers had career highs in points and rebounds and Baker had his eighth career 3-point game as the No. 13-ranked Blue Dragons led from start to finish and defeated the Seminole State Trojans 87-71 in the 2021 season opener at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons improve to 70-19 in season openers and 75-14 in home openers. Now 1-0, Hutchinson will open the 2021 Jayhawk Conference season on Wednesday against No. 10 Coffeyville at the Sports Arena.

Mayers led all scorers with a game- and career-high 22 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the floor and going 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Mayers added a career-best 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and to pace the Blue Dragons to a plus-15 rebound margin (50-35). Mayers scored 17 points in the second half.

Baker, the 2020 Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year finished with 20 points, hitting four 3-pointers and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. Baker added four steals, three rebounds and two assists.

The Blue Dragons built a 43-29 halftime lead despite shooting only 35.3 percent (12 of 34) in the first half. Hutchinson shot 48.1 percent in the second half (13 of 27), but outscored Seminole State only 44-42 in the final 20 minutes.

Hutchinson led by as many as 23 points early in the second half, but the Trojans managed trim the lead to single figures when Azibuike Nwankwo scored with 4:23 remaining to make it 73-64 Hutchinson. The Blue Dragon answered with a quick and decisive 10-3 run over the next 2:40. Both Baker and Mayers drilled 3-pointers. Mayers hit two free throws with 1:46 to play which gave the Blue Dragons an insurmountable 83-67 lead.

The Blue Dragons were balanced scorer and had only three score in double figures

Stephan Gabriel was the third Blue Dragon in double figures with 10 points, including three 3-pointers, four rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Majok Kuath finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Freshman Donovan Taylor had seven points, while freshmen Bryant Selebangue and Chris Robinson and sophomore Isaiah Bujdoso had six points each.

The Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 41.0 percent from the floor (25 of 61), going 10 of 26 from 3-point range and 27 of 36 from the free-throw line.

DeAngelo Adkins led four Seminole State players in double figures with 13 points. Jordan Flood had 12 while Oscar Traylor and Jaylen O'Connor had 10 points each.

Seminole State shot 37.7 percent for the game (26 of 69), going 9 of 18 from long range and 10 of 14 from the free-throw line.

GAME NOTES – This was the first time since 2007 since Hutchinson and Seminole State played in men's basketball. The Dragons are 8-3 all-time against the Trojans. … Head Coach Steve Eck won his 450th game as a Jayhawk Conference coach. … Baker scored in double figures for the 20th time in his Blue Dragon career. This was his ninth time to have at least four 3-pointers in a game. … The Blue Dragons earned all-time program win No. 1,830.