Hutchinson CC Sports Information
CONCORDIA – Chalk it up to "one of those days" for the No. 4-ranked Hutchinson Community College Men's Basketball team on Saturday at Cloud County.
The Blue Dragons were held to a season-low offensive output and the Thunderbirds shot better than 65 percent as Hutchinson's first true road game of the season became its first loss in a 90-75 setback at the Arley Bryant Gym.
Hutchinson dropped to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons travel to Pratt on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. Cloud County improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the KJCCC.
Cloud County jumped out to a 7-0 lead with three point-blank buckets. Dadrevius Weathers hit a 3-pointer to give the Dragons a 17-15 lead with 13:04 to play. The Dragons then went scoreless for the next 4 minutes and fell behind 23-17. After Aaron Potter snapped that dry spell with a layup with 9:04 to play, the next Dragon points didn't come until the 6:44 mark on a Kernan Bundy 3-pointer.
Over that stretch of 6 minutes, 20 second, Cloud County outscored the Blue Dragons 17-2 to build a 32-19 lead.
Cloud County shot 66.7 percent in the first half to Hutchinson's 30.6 percent and led 46-32 at halftime.
The Blue Dragons held Cloud County scoreless for a span of nearly 3 full minutes and pulled within seven points at 56-49 after a Landon Wagler layup with 12:11 to play. The Blue Dragons made it a one-possession game with a Bundy dunk and two Antonio Green free throws. The Cloud lead dwindled to 61-58 with 10:07 remaining. Then a Jayden Garrison 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to two at 65-63 with 8:31 remaining.
From that point, Cloud County outscored the Blue Dragons 25-12 to cement their second-straight win over Hutchinson.
Green came off the bench to lead the Blue Dragons with a season-high 19 points. Green was 6 of 8 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers and was 5 of 5 from the foul line.
Aaron Franklin had 17 points and seven rebounds. Bundy finished with 14 points. Potter closed with nine points.
The Blue Dragons shot 25 of 73 from the field (34.2 percent). Hutchinson hit 9 of 36 from 3-point range and was 16 of 24 from the foul line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 38-33. The Dragons committed 18 turnovers.
Matang Athian hit 13 of 15 shots and finished with a game-high 27 points to lead the Thunderbirds. Corey Sawyer and Cheikh Sow scored 17 points each.
Cloud County became the first opponent to shoot better than 60 percent in a game since Northwest Tech in 2020. The Thunderbirds shot 65.4 percent (34 of 52), scoring 62 points in the paint to the Dragons' 32. Cloud was 2 of 9 from 3-point range and 20 of 31 from the foul line.