Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GARDEN CITY – The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team got snowballed on Saturday.
A pair of late first-half 3-pointers gave Garden City the momentum it needed to overwhelm the Blue Dragons in the second half as Hutchinson suffered a 93-58 loss to the Broncbusters a Conestoga Arena.
The loss was a historical one for Hutchinson. It was the worst loss against the Broncbusters in the 184 games played. The 35-point loss was also the third-worst loss the Blue Dragons have suffered in program history. Hutchinson was swept by Garden City in a season series for the first time since 2005.
Hutchinson falls to 19-6 overall and 10-6 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons travel to play at Pratt on Monday night. Garden City improves to 10-15 and 5-11.
The Blue Dragons had leads as large as five points in the first half, leading 21-16 with 8:03 to play in the half. Two James Rojas free throws with 5:47 left matched the largest advantage. The Blue Dragons went scoreless for 3 minutes and their lead dwindled to 30-29. Garden's Claiborne Kyles hit a 3-pointer to take a 32-30 lead. A Malique Jacobs basket tied the game at 32, but Kyles struck again from distance with 18 seconds left to give Garden City a 35-32 lead at halftime.
Garden City scored the first five points of the second half and build a 44-37 lead with 17:14 to go. The Busters then surged with a 12-0 run to lead 56-37 with 14:35 to go.
The Broncbusters went on to outscore Hutchinson 58-26 in the second half shooting 17 of 28 (60.7 percent) with seven 3-pointers.
Rojas led the Blue Dragons with 20 points, including a career-high 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Rojas also had six rebounds. Rheaquone Taylor finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Blue Dragons were held to a season-low point total and shooting 35.5 percent (22 of 62), going only 3 of 14 from 3-point range and 11 of 17 from the free-throw line. The Dragons had a season-low 25 rebounds and was outrebounded 41-25.
Jamir Miller had 19 points on 11 of 12 shooting with three 3-pointers to lead the Broncbusters. Miller added seven rebounds and six assists. Kyles finished 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range and had 17 points. Russhard Cruickshank had 14 points.
The Busters shot 56.4 percent for the game (31 of 55), hitting 12 of 22 from 3-point range and 19 of 22 from the free-throw line.
GAME NOTES – The worst previous loss to Garden City was 26 points, a 93-67 loss on December 26, 1955. … This was Rojas' seventh 20-point game this season and ninth of his career. … The 58 points allowed in the second half was an opponent season high against Hutch. … Garden City is just the third team to shoot 50 percent against the Blue Dragons this year. … In two games this season, Garden City's Jamir Miller had 52 points and 19 rebounds against the Blue Dragons.