DRAGONS TURNS THINGS AROUND IN 2ND HALF AT GARDEN CITY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

GARDEN CITY – It was a tale of two halves for the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team on Saturday in Garden City.

The Broncbusters bombed away in the first half for six 3-pointers and built a five-point lead at halftime. The Blue Dragons turned things around in the second half and outscored the Busters by 23 points in the final 20 minutes to capture an 88-70 Jayhawk West road victory at Conestoga Arena.

The Blue Dragons won their fifth-game in a row and improved to 10-3 overall and maintained sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk West at 9-3. The Busters had a three-game win streak snapped and fell to 7-5 overall and 6-5 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons return to the Sports Arena on Wednesday for a battle with the Barton Cougars.

The Dragons led 23-18 with 9:17 left in the first half after a Chris Robinson 3-pointer. The Busters started to find the range from long distances and immediately turned things around, scoring 22 of the game's next 31 points to build a 40-32 lead after a Kahdim Samb 3-pointer with 3:15 to play in the first half.

The Blue Dragons got back within three twice before intermission, but trailed 47-42 and Garden City rattled home 6 of 26 from 3-point range in the first half.

A Jahdukiss Soto layup with 18:49 to go in the second half gave the Busters a 49-43 lead. The Dragons scored 10 of the game's next 12 points and took a 53-51 lead with 16:00 to play on a Josh Baker 3-pointer. That burst was part of what became a game-changing 25-5 run, which was capped by a Majok Kuath inside hoop for a 66-52 Hutch lead with 11:48 to play. Garden City went scoreless for 4 minutes, 36 seconds.

The Blue Dragons wound up doubling up Garden City in the second half 46-23. Baker scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Blue Dragons to 51.5 percent overall shooting. The Blue Dragon defense held the Busters to 0 of 9 from 3-point range and just 30.4 percent overall shooting (7 of 23) from the floor.

Matt Mayers had his seventh-straight double-double and ninth of the season before halftime and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Mayers was 9 of 13 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Baker finished with 16 points for Hutchinson on 5 of 7 shooting with a 3-pointer and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. Robinson and Isaiah Bujdoso had 13 points each. Stephan Gabriel added nine points and a career-high-tying four assists.

The Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 47.0 percent (31 of 66), going 5 of 18 from 3-point range and 21 of 26 from the free-thrown line. The Dragons had a season-low seven turnovers.

Hutchinson also owned a 47-27 rebounding advantage. Kuath had a season-high 12 rebounds, his fourth game of 12 or more rebounds in his career.

Denver Jones, one of the top scorers in the KJCCC this season, had a team-high 21 points and five assists. No other Garden City layer scored in double figures.

Garden City was held to 36.2 percent shooting for the game (21 of 58). The Busters did shoot 22 of 25 from the free-throw line.

GAME NOTES – This was all-time Blue Dragon win No. 1,839 … Hutch is 138-49 all-time against Garden City. … Hutchinson held its fourth-straight opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. The Dragons have held eight opponents to less than 40 percent this season. … The Blue Dragons are 4-2 in road games this season. … Bujdoso's three 3-pointers were a single-game career high.