DRAGONS COMPLETE 20-POINT COMEBACK TO STUN CLARENDON

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

GREAT BEND – A first loss of the Tommy DeSalme era looked unavoidable on Saturday as the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team trailed Clarendon by 20 points in the Barton Cougar Booster Club Classic with 7 minutes, 40 seconds left in regulation.

With little going right over the first 32-plus minutes, the Blue Dragons wound up pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in their 90-year history, rallying to stun Clarendon 97-95.

No. 15 Hutchinson closed out the non-league schedule at 6-0. The Blue Dragons will open Jayhawk Conference play on Wednesday at Independence.

The 20-point rally was the third-largest comeback in team history, which dates back to 1928.

The last time the Dragons came back from 20 or more points was also the largest comeback in Hutchinson history. On December 6, 2017 at the Power Plant in El Dorado, the Blue Dragons trailed Butler by 26 points with 4:42 to play in the first half. Hutch came back to win 82-81. The second-largest comeback was 24 points against Johnson County in the 2006 Jayhawk Conference Shootout.

Saturday's comeback was needed when Clarendon quickly erased a 43-39 Blue Dragon halftime lead. The Bulldogs outscored Hutchinson 47-23 over the first 12:20 of the second half and led 86-66 after an Omar Cooper transition layup with 7:40 to go in the game.

Clarendon scored 32 fast-break points in opening that lead.

The Blue Dragon comeback started with an Angelo Stuart 3-pointer, a Jacquez Yow dunk and two Nate Goodlow free throws for a run of seven unanswered points to pull within 86-73 with 6:10 to go. The Bulldogs maintained a 9-to-13-point lead over the next 2 minutes and led 94-81 after a Bryce Okpoh layup with 3:45 remaining.

The Hutchinson comeback kicked into high gear with a run of 16 unanswered points over a span of 3 minutes 24 seconds. The Blue Dragons pulled within one at 95-94 on an Angelo Stuart 3-pointer with 1:31 to play. That shot was made available after the Dragons crashed the boards for two offensive rebounds. Stuart then gave Hutchinson the lead with a layup with 1:11 left. Stuart then came up with a steal and fed Kobe Campbell for a layup and a 97-94 lead with 20.7 seconds to play

The only Clarendon points of the final 3:45 came on a Zarique Nutter free throw with 7.9 seconds to play, cutting the Dragon lead to 97-95. The Dragons committed a turnover on the inbound play with 3.4 seconds remaining. Clarendon missed a final 3-point attempt at the buzzer to complete the Blue Dragon comeback.

The final run that spurred the comeback was 31-8 with Stuart scoring 11 points and Campbell adding nine points in the rally. The Dragons held Clarendon to just three field goals in the final 7 1/2 minutes.

Stuart scored a career-high 28 points, going 10 of 24 overall and 5 of 12 from 3-point range to pace the Blue Dragons. Stuart also had three rebounds and three steals.

Campbell also scored in double figures for the Blue Dragons. Campbell finished with a season-high 17 points with two 3-point goals, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Cecil Lee had five points, four blocks and a season-high 11 rebounds. Yow finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Goodlow, Zavion McClendon and Tarese Morse all had nine points each.

The Blue Dragons shot 31.0 percent for the game, hitting 35 of a staggering 113 shot attempts in the game. The Dragons were 13 of 45 from 3-point range and 14 of 24 from the free-throw line.

Hutchinson was out-rebounded 74-62, but the Dragons had a 33-28 advantage in offensive rebounds. The 62 rebounds for tied for the fifth most in team history. The 74 rebounds allowed were the most surrendered to an opponent in team history.

Clarendon shot 40.7 percent for the game (37 of 91), but went only 1 of 12 from 3-point range and 20 of 26 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs committed 29 turnovers to Hutchinson's 14.

Nutter finished with 35 points on 15 of 23 shooting to lead the Bulldogs. Nutter also had 17 rebounds. Isaiah Johnson had 15 points, Ibn Loyal and 12 and Okpoh had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 8-2 all-time against Clarendon. … Kaimen Lennox and Jayden Hall had four assists each. … The Blue Dragons had nine blocked host and 14 steals.