Hutchinson CC Sports Information
DODGE CITY – The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team had control of its Region VI Tournament quarterfinal battle with top-seeded Cowley for the first 28 minutes on Sunday.
But with mounting foul trouble and shots not falling as readily as they were in the first half, the Blue Dragons weren't able to hold off the nation's top scoring offense in the final 12 minutes.
The eighth-seeded Blue Dragons had their season come to an end on Sunday as Cowley defeated Hutchinson 110-91.
The Dragons finish their season with a 23-9 record and don't advance to the Region VI Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2012. Cowley improves to 26-5 and will play Coffeyville in Monday's semifinals.
Hutchinson shot 67.9 percent in the first half (19 of 28) and built a 50-41 lead at halftime. That lead was still 70-62 when Saquan Singleton hit a free throw with 11:52 to go in the second half. From that point, Cowley outscored the Blue Dragons 48-21.
The 110 points allowed to Cowley tied for the fourth most in Hutchinson history. The last time the Dragons gave up 110 points was January 25, 1992 against Seward County.
The Tigers shot 58.3 percent (21 of 36) and outscored Hutchinson 69-41 in the second half. The Blue Dragons shot 41.2 percent (14 of 34) and had Singleton, Tyler Brown and D.J. Mitchell foul out in the second half.
Rebounding was a huge factor in the game. Hutchinson was a plus-4 rebounding margin in the first half. Cowley turned things around and out-rebounded the Blue Dragons by 20 in the second half.
Mitchell scored 22 points in his final game as a Blue Dragon. He hit 9 of 14 total shots with seven rebounds. Mitchell closed his career with 882 points, which is 27th in Blue Dragon history.
Freshmen Clarence King and Jaden Okon had 14 points each and Singleton finished with 12 points.
With six assists, Singleton moved into fifth place on the Blue Dragon career assist list with 261.
Hutchinson finished the game shooting 53.2 percent overall (33 of 62), going only 3 of 13 from 3-point range and 22 of 30 from the foul line. The Blue Dragons turned the ball over 23 times in the game.
Ridgnal Dalen had a huge double-double with 25 points and 19 rebounds to lead Cowley. The 19 rebounds were the most by a Blue Dragon opponent this season. Deng Bol and Shemarri Allen had 12 points and Cevin Clark had 16 points.
The Tigers hit 15 of 39 3-pointers, including 11 treys in the first half. Overall, the Tigers shot 42.5 percent (34 of 80) and hit 27 of 35 free throws. Cowley was just 4 of 6 from the line, but was 23 of 29 in the second half.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 138-49 all-time in Region VI Tournament history, including g43-11 in the quarterfinal round. … Hutch is 138-49 all-time against Cowley, including 11-8 in the Region VI Tournament. … D.J. Mitchell finished with 116 career 3-pointers, the fifth most in team history. … The Blue Dragons finished the season with a 19-7 record when leading at halftime. … Tyler Brown finished with a career high six assists. … Josh Baker hit one 3-pointer and tied a Blue Dragon freshman record for 3-pointers in a season with 76. He is tied with Derrick Drummond for the freshman record and the third most in single-season history. … The 2020 Blue Dragons finished with 212 3-pointers for the season and tied the 2005 Blue Dragons for the third-most 3-pointers in team history.