BLUE DRAGONS UPEND NO. 14 RED RAVENS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

COFFEYVILLE – D.J. Dudley and Bo Aldridge combined for 49 points and 13 rebounds to power the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team to its second win over a nationally ranked opponent on Monday night.

The Blue Dragons shot just shy of 50 percent while holding the Red Ravens 14 points under its season-scoring average as Hutchinson defeated No. 14 Coffeyville 76-66 at Nellis Hall.

Playing for the first time in nine days, the Blue Dragons improved to 15-8 overall and 11-6 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons travel to Garden City on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Conestoga Arena. Coffeyville dropped to 17-6 overall and 13-4 in the league.

The Blue Dragons trailed for all of 30 seconds on Monday night. Hutchinson shot 50 percent and held Coffeyville to 35.3 percent in the first half to build a 35-30 lead, despite committing nine turnover in the opening 20 minutes. The Dragons committed only two turnovers in the second half and built leads as large as 12 points, outscoring the Ravens 41-36 in the final 20 minutes.

Dudley posted his fourth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 26 points. Dudley was 8 of 12 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.

Aldridge reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth-time this season going for a season-high-tying 22 points and five rebounds. Aldridge was 9 of 14 from the field and 4 of 4 from the foul line. Aldridge added season highs of three steals and three blocked shots.

Bobby Cannon was the third Blue Dragon to score in double figures, posting a tremendous all-around stat line against Coffeyville. Cannon had 10 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots to lead a season-high 10 blocks for the Dragons.

Khalil Arnold finished with seven points for the Blue Dragons.

Hutchinson shot 49.1 percent (28 of 57), going 4 of 12 from 3-point range and 16 of 18 from the foul line. The Dragons outrebounded Coffeyville 38-33 and had 11 turnovers.

Brian Griffith finished with 22 points to lead the Red Ravens. He was 10 of 10 from the foul line. Abdul Kuta finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, hitting 8 of 10 foul shots.

The Ravens shot 37.3 percent (22 of 59), were held to 2 of 16 from 3-point range and were 20 of 26 from the foul line. The Ravens had nine turnovers.

An Arnold 3-pointer and back-to-back drives to the hoop by Aldridge gave the Blue Dragons an early 7-4 lead. Coffeyville battled back to take a 12-11 lead on a Relja Nagulac field goal with 12:44 to go. The Dragons immediately answered with another Aldridge field goal 30 seconds later, then Cannon hit a 2-pointer and 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give Hutchinson an 18-12 lead with 8:34 to go in the first half.

Coffeyville whittled that lead down to one point on four different occasions in the first half, the final time at 27-26 on a Nagulac 3-pointer. From that point, the Blue Dragon defense limited the Red Ravens to just one more field goal and four total points and led 35-28 an Aldridge bucket with 31 seconds to play. Trenton Ruth scored with 2 seconds remaining in the half and Hutchinson's lead was 35-30 at intermission.

The Blue Dragons scored six unanswered points on pairs of free throws from Dudley and Aldridge and a putback from Isaiah Jackson to build a 45-36 lead with 17:02 remaining in the second half. The Ravens surged again pulling within 47-43, but Dudley got to the free-throw line six times in a 52 seconds span, making 5 of the 6 to give the Dragons a 52-43 lead with 14:02 to go.

Aldridge scored with 12:11 to go for Hutchinson's first double-figure lead at 57-47. Coffeyville got as close as eight points at 69-61 with 1:25 left, but Cannon nailed a wide-open 3-pointer with 1:05 left to seal the game for the Dragons.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 2-2 against NJCAA-ranked opponents this season. … The Dragons are 7-2 in true road games. … Freshman guard Juvon Gamory played first the first time in 23 games this season. … The Blue Dragons are 34-27 all-time against Coffeyville and 10-12 in games at Coffeyville. The Dragons have won two-straight games in Coffeyville. … The last time the Blue Dragons had 10 or more blocked shots in a game was 13 against Cloud County on December 6, 2023. … The Dragons are 13-4 when leading at halftime. … This was the ninth time to hold an opponent to less than 70 points. … This was all-time win No. 1,938.