DRAGONS CAN’T OVERCOME 3-POINT BUSTER BARRAGE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

GARDEN CITY – The Garden City Broncbusters hit an opponent-season-high 13 3-point goals Thursday night to stun the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team at Conestoga Arena.

Four different Buster players had at least three 3-pointers as the Blue Dragons fell 81-73 in a KJCCC matchup moved back one day because of wintry weather on Wednesday.

The Blue Dragons are now 15-9 overall and 11-7 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson will play host to Cloud County at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Sports Arena. Garden City improved to 14-11 overall and 9-10 in league play.

In each half Thursday, the Busters came out hot from 3-point range. Garden City started the game hitting 5 of its first 6 from distance and built an 11-point lead. The Blue Dragons answered defensively holding Garden City to 2 of 16 shooting from behind the arc for the remainder of the half and trailed only 34-33 at halftime. Garden City didn't cool off in the second half, hitting 7 of 12 from distance as the Blue Dragons were outscored 47-40 in the final 20 minutes.

Bobby Cannon posted his third career double-double of 13 points and career-high-tying 13 rebounds to lead the Blue Dragons. Cannon also had a career-best six assists.

Bo Aldridge was Hutchinson's leading scorer with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Aldridge was 7 of 12 shooting.

Isaiah Jackson had 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting. D.J. Dudley finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

The Blue Dragons shot 50.0 percent for the game (29 of 58), but hit only 4 of 18 3-point attempts and was 11 of 14 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Garden City 33-26 and committed 12 turnovers.

Antonio Chol was 4 of 7 from 3-point range to lead Garden City with 24 points. Emmanuel Manyuon had 23 points, Boston Harker had 19 points and Jace Steinmetz had 11 points, each of those players had three 3-point goals.

Garden City shot 45.2 percent for the game (28 of 62), hitting 13 of 33 3-pointers – Garden City has hit 27 combined 3-pointers in its last two games – and 12 of 14 from the foul line. The Busters had just five turnovers.

Manyuon hit a 3-pointer with 12:13 remaining in the first half to cap Garden City's torrid shooting start to build a 24-14 lead. Mikhail Abdul-Hamid hit a 15-foot pull-up jumper to spark the Blue Dragon offense. Trailing 27-16, the Blue Dragons got back into the game with an 11-0 run over a span of four minutes. Kobe Smith's drive to the hoop with 6:40 remaining tied the game at 27-27.

Dudley's layup tied the game at 29, but Steinmetz hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing Garden City possession for a 32-29 lead. Trailing 34-31, Jackson's putback with 57 seconds left pulled the dragons within 34-33, which was the halftime score.

Garden City started the second half 3 of 3 from long range as part of a 15-6 run over the first 3:37 of the half and the Dragons played catch-up the rest of the way.

Khalil Arnold hit a 3-pointer with 11:33 remaining to pull within 57-52. A Cannon three-point play drew Hutchinson within 58-54 with 10:26 remaining. Arnold nailed another 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game at 60-57 with 9:57 to go.

With Garden City leading 65-61, Chol knocked down a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound to rebuild a seven-point lead with 6:09 remaining. Garden City got the lead back to nine points on two different occasions after that, the second at 75-66 after a Steinmetz 3-pointer with 2:48 to go. Abdul-Hamid buried a corner 3-pointer with 1:18 to go to pull within 75-71, but Garden City close out the game at the free-throw line.

GAME NOTES – Bobby Cannon had his fourth double-figure rebounding game of the season. … The Blue Dragons used their 14th different starting lineup. … The Blue Dragons lead the all-time series with Garden City 145-52, including 55-38 in Garden City. … The Dragons are now 7-3 on the road and 5-3 when shooting 50 percent or better.