YOW CARRIES BLUE DRAGONS TO OT WIN AT GARDEN CITY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

GARDEN CITY – Sophomore Jacquez Yow poured in a career-high 39 points to lift the No. 19 Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team to a thrilling overtime victory over Garden City on Wednesday at Conestoga Arena.

Yow scored nine points in overtime and Kaimen Lennox scored six in the extra period to lead the Blue Dragons to a 120-113 over the Broncbusters

The Blue Dragons close the 2021-22 regular season with a 23-7 record and a second-place finish in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons will be the No. 2 seed for the 2022 Region VI Tournament and will have an opening-round bye on Saturday. Hutchinson will play the Barton/Pratt winner on Tuesday at the Sports Arena in the quarterfinals.

Yow put together the ninth-best single game scoring effort in Blue Dragon history with his career-high 39 points. The sophomore from Newport News, Virginia, hit 13 of 22 total shots, including 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range and 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. Yow just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and he added four assists.

Yow scored 19 points in the second half as the Blue Dragons rallied from deficits as large as 16 points and a four-point halftime deficit. Leading by two points in overtime, Yow nailed his third 3-pointer of the game for a 107-102 lead, and then hit six-straight free throws as the Blue Dragons outscored Garden City 20-13 in overtime.

Kobe Campbell posted his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Campbell added four assists and made several hustle plays diving after loose balls to retain possession.

Angelo Stuart finished with 17 points and his only 3-pointer of the game was a 55-foot banked-in buzzer beater to close the first half. Nate Goodlow finished with nine points, six assists four rebounds and four steals.

The Blue Dragons shot 45.3 percent (43 of 95), including 5 of 9 in overtime. The Dragons were 7 of 27 from 3-point range and 27 of 33 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Garden City 47-45 and had 30 assists and 22 turnovers.

Garden City started the game hitting 18 of its first 31 shots over the first 14 minutes, 40 seconds. From that point, the Broncbusters missed 36 of their final 53 shot attempts to finished at 41.7 percent overall shooting (35 of 84), hitting 8 of 26 from 3-point range and 35 of 47 from the free-throw line.

Tone Hunter, who had 37 points in Garden City's 132-129 win over Hutchinson in January 15, had a game-high 22 points with three 3-pointers. Mohamed Diarra, who had 26 points and 22 rebounds in the January game, had 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Jyre McCloud finished with 15 points, while Heru Bligen and Zac Taylor had 14 points each.

The Dragons trailed by as many as six points early, but stayed close with 3-pointers from Yow and Jayden Garrison. Josiah Harris converted a three-point play with 11:18 left in the first half to cut the Dragon deficit to 25-23. Garden City then exploded for a 24-10 run over the next 6 minutes and built a 49-33 lead after a Josh Nwankwo 3-pointer with 5:20 to play.

Trailing 51-38, the Dragons went on a 14-4 run and pulled within 55-52 after a Campbell 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining. Garden City pushed the lead back to seven and had an opportunity to increase that margin in the final seconds of the first half after a Blue Dragon turnover. Cecil Lee came up with a steal and quickly got the ball to Stuart, who banked in a 55-foot shot at the halftime buzzer and the Blue Dragons cut the Garden lead to 59-55 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons grabbed their first lead since early in the game on a Yow inside hoop for a 65-63 lead. The second half featured five lead changes and seven ties. Two Stuart free throws with 21 seconds left gave the Dragons a 100-97 lead. Garden City had six free-throw attempts in the final 18 seconds and only made three for a 100-100 score at the end of regulation.

The Dragons scored the first four points of overtime on a jumper by Campbell and Lennox layup. Leading by two, Yow buried a huge 3-pointer with 3:30 to play. The Dragons started to pull away and built a 10-point lead after two Stuart free throws for a 117-107 lead with 40 seconds to go. The Blue Dragons were 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in overtime.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 2-0 in overtime games this season. … The Blue Dragons were picked fifth in the KJCCC preseason coaches' poll. … This was all-time win No. 1,871 for the Dragons. … The Dragons are 140-20 all-time vs. Garden City, 64-36 in games in Garden City and 4-1 against the Busters in overtime. … The Blue Dragons and Garden City combined for 485 total points in their two games this season. … The Dragons are 10-2 on the road this season and 6-5 when trailing at halftime. … This was the 10th time the Blue Dragons broke 100 points, which ties a record making the 1991-92, 1993-94 and 2016-17 Blue Dragons. … Nate Goodlow is now tied with Keldrick Brooks (1996) for eighth on the single-season steals list with 84.