BLUE DRAGON MEN'S BASKETBALL |
Hutchinson (20-6, 11-6) vs. Dodge City (7-19, 2-15)When: Wednesday, February 13, 2019 |
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Just when it looked like the season was teetering on the edge of the abyss, the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team may have re-energized its season on Monday night.
The Blue Dragons will look to carry the momentum they received from Monday's come-from-behind victory at Pratt with a 7:30 p.m. Jayhawk West matchup against Dodge City on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 7:20 p.m. with Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. The game will also be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network beginning at 7:20 p.m.
Entering Monday night, the Blue Dragons had lost 3 of 4 and had just suffered the third-worst loss in program history on Saturday at Garden City. Right off the bat, the Blue Dragons trailed Pratt 7-0 and wound up down 32-20 at halftime. Pratt still led 64-59 lead with 4:29 left in regulation. Back came Hutch with a Saquan Singleton inside basket and a James Rojas three-point play to tie the game again at 64-all with 4:06 to play.
From that point, the lead changed hands four more times. Malique Jacobs scored with 2:44 left for a 68-67 Hutch lead. Pratt took a 69-68 lead on a Taylor layup with 2:21 left. Jacobs grabbed the lead back for the Dragons in a tip-in of a missed shot for a 70-69 lead with 2:02 left. The Dragons scored 4 of the game's final 5 points to secure the victory.
The victory clinched milestone victory No. 1,800 for the NJCAA's winningest team in history and also clinched a home game for the opening round of the Region VI Tournament.
Dodge City is also running out of time to save its season. Currently on a nine-game losing streak, the 7-19 Conquistadors find themselves two games out of the Region VI Tournament with four games to play. Only seven of the eight Jayhawk West teams will advance to postseason.
The Conquistadors dropped a 111-80 decision on Monday night at home against Seward County.
Hutchinson needed overtime to defeat Dodge City on January 23 in Dodge City. The Dragons rallied to win 98-90 to move to move to 3-0 in overtime games this season. Freshman center Fred Odhiambo had a huge game with career highs of 18 points and 18 rebounds for his first career double-double. Odhiambo hit a career best 8 field goals in 10 attempts and he posted a new career high with seven blocked shots. His 18 rebounds tied for the sixth most in Blue Dragon single-game history. His seven blocked shots tied for the fifth most blocks in single-game history.
The Blue Dragons fell out of the NJCAA rankings this season for the first time since 2014, a span of 53-consecutive polls. The Dragons are still in the Receiving Votes column.