PRATT UPSETS NO. 23 BLUE DRAGONS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday night.

Pratt's Malcolm Whitlow came off the bench to score a game-high 28 points, 16 in the second half, as the Beavers upset the Blue Dragons 85-82 at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena to split the season series with the Blue Dragons.

The Blue Dragons fell to 14-4 overall and saw their three-game lead in the Jayhawk West trimmed to two games at 13-4. Both Dodge City and Barton won games on Wednesday night. Pratt, which defeated Hutchinson for the second-straight season on its home court, improved to 7-10 overall, 6-10 in league play.

The Blue Dragons suffered through an off offensive night. Matt Mayers missed most of the first half with an injury and Majok Kuath was strapped with foul trouble. The Blue Dragons shot 41.3 percent for the game (36 of 63) for the game and had 14 turnovers.

Still, Hutchinson led 38-35 at halftime, but Whitlow and the Beavers more than warmed up in the second half.

With the game tied at 55 in the second half, Pratt's Julian Eziukwu scored for a two-point Pratt lead. Kuath was issued a technical foul on the next Hutchinson possession and Whitlow's free throws gave the Beavers a 59-55 lead. A Cam Morris dunk at the 8:05 mark gave Pratt a 64-57 lead and the Dragons were forced to take a timeout.

Hutch still trailed 66-64 after two Jaden Okon free throws with 5:42 to play. Pratt went on a 7-0 run and led 73-64 after a Whitlow field goal with 3:55 to play in the game.

Trailing 81-71 with 1:12 to play, the Dragons mounted a furious comeback with a stunning 11-0 run over a span of 23 seconds. Isaiah Bujdoso's layup with 49 seconds left gave Hutch an 82-81 lead.

Whitlow made two free throws with 33.1 seconds to go to give the Beavers a one-point lead. The Dragons turned the ball over on their next possession after Baker drove the lane with a lot of contact, but no call was made. Whitlow made two more free throws with 9.9 seconds left for an 85-82 lead. Baker's attempt at a game-tying trey at the buzzer was just off the mark.

Pratt outscored Hutchinson 50-44 in the second half, shooting 57.1 percent (16 of 28) with five 3-pointers and 13 of 14 free-throw shooting.

Baker led the Blue Dragons with 22 points, knocking down 4 of 8 from 3-point range – Baker now has 94 career 3-pointers. The Blue Dragon sophomore guard, who earlier in the day was named the Jayhawk Conference Division I Player of the Week, also had six rebounds.

Bujdoso had 14 points and Okon finished with 10 points. Mayers and Kuath were held to eight and four points, respectively. Those two players combined for 49 points in Hutchinson's win over Pratt at the Sports Arena on March 3.

The Blue Dragons finished shooting 41.3 percent, hitting 4 of 14 from 3-point range and 26 of 35 from the free-throw line. Hutch held a 39-21 rebounding advantage.

Whitlow had four 3-pointers and was 8 of 9 from the stripe in his 28-point performance. Eziukwu finished with 18 points for the Beavers.

Pratt was 29 of 60 shooting (48.3 percent), going 8 of 23 from distance and 19 of 23 from the free-throw line.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 148-29 all-time against Pratt. … There were 15 lead changes and nine ties in the game. … The Blue Dragons are now 10-2 when leading a game at halftime … Josh Baker posted his 10th career game of 20 or more points.