DRAGON DEFENSE LOCKS DOWN SAINTS IN ARENA VICTORY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team extended its season-long win streak to six games Wednesday night at the Sports Arena with a tremendous defensive effort.

The Blue Dragons held Seward County 21 points under its season scoring average and to 24 percent shooting in the second half as Hutchinson defeated the Saints 67-50 in a KJCCC matchup.

Hutchinson improved to 12-5 overall and 8-3 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons travel to Dodge City at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Seward County is now 2-14 overall and 1-10 in the league.

The Blue Dragons have now won 11-straight games over Seward County.

Leading 34-29 at halftime, the Blue Dragon defense turned the heat up on the Saints in the final 20 minutes. Seward County was held to 24.1 percent shooting (7 of 29) as the Dragons outscored Seward County 33-20 to pull away.

The 50 points allowed were a season low for Hutchinson's defense. The 21 points allowed in the second half were also a season low in a second half and second-fewest allowed in a half by the Dragons.

Sophomore D.J. Dudley had his second-best single-game offensive output of the season with 25 points. Dudley was 8 of 11 from the field with a 3-pointe rand 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Dudley just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore Khalil Arnold finished with 11 points, going 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. Bobby Cannon had 11 points and three blocked shots. Mikhail Abdul-Hamid had seven points and Bo Aldridge finished with six points.

The Blue Dragons shot 54.3 percent – going 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) in the second half – hitting 25 of 46 overall shots. Hutchinson was 7 of 16 from the 3-point line and 10 of 12 from the foul line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Seward County 31-25 and had just seven turnovers.

Seward County was 21 of 56 shooting overall, going 5 of 16 from 3-point range and 3 of 6 from the foul line. The Saints had just four turnovers.

Muhammed Jobe had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Seward County. Benni Kazadi had 11 points.

Jobe had 12 points in the first half and helped Seward County to its largest lead of five points at 16-11 with a jumper at 10:01 to play in the first half. The Blue Dragons trailed for the next 7 minutes, finally tying the game at 27-27 on a Dudley transition layup with 3:08 left. Abdul-Hamid scored 38 seconds later to give the Dragons a 29-27 lead.

Those baskets were part of a 7-0 Dragon run, which was capped off by an Arnold 3-point goal for a 34-27 lead with 13 seconds left. Kiku Parker scored just before the halftime buzzer to pull the Saints within 34-29 at halftime.

Dudley had an assist and driving layup out of the second-half chute to give the Dragons a 38-29 lead with 17:46 to play in the second half. The Dragons regained that nine-point lead when Dudley converted a three-point play with 14:48 to go for a 43-34 lead.

Leading 56-50, Cannon scored in the paint to start an 11-0 Hutchinson run to close the game. The Blue Dragon defense held Seward County scoreless for the final 6 minutes, 17 seconds of the game. Isaiah Jackson scored inside to finally push the Dragon lead to double figures at 60-50 with 4:27 left.

The Blue Dragons outscored Seward County 33-21 in the second half.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 89-31 all-time against Seward County, including 51-6 at the Sports Arena. … This was all-time win No. 1,935 for the Blue Dragons. … This was the sixth time this season the Blue Dragons have shot better than 50 percent and it's the second-straight game to do so. … The Dragons had a season-low 46 total field goal attempts. … D.J. Dudley had his fourth career 20-point game, his third this season.