LATE RALLY HELPS DRAGONS STUN NO. 12 ODESSA

Angelo Stuart scores a team-high 22 points to help the Blue Dragons upend No. 6 Odessa 92-90 on Friday night at the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic at the Sports Arena. (Cassidy Smith/Blue Dragon Sports Information)
Angelo Stuart scores a team-high 22 points to help the Blue Dragons upend No. 6 Odessa 92-90 on Friday night at the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic at the Sports Arena. (Cassidy Smith/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

BLUE DRAGON MEN'S BASKETBALL

Hutchinson (2-0) vs. NOC-Tonkawa (1-1)

BSN Sports Tipoff Classic
3 p.m.: Barton vs. No. 12 Odessa
7:30 p.m.: Hutchinson vs. NOC-Tonkawa
Site: Hutchinson Sports Arena
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 7:15 p.m.; Glen Grunwald (PBP), Dan Naccarato (color)
Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 7:15 p.m.
Twitter: @bluedragonsport

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Just when Odessa College looked like it had solved the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team's high-tempo game, the Blue Dragons quickly turned things around Friday night at the Sports Arena.

Trailing by eight points with 7:05 to play in the second half, the Blue Dragons held Odessa to just one made field goal and seven free throws from that point and rallied to defeat the No. 12-ranked Wranglers 92-90 on the opening night of the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic.

Hutchinson, which is receiving votes in the NJCAA preseason rankings, improved to 2-0 with a Saturday 7:30 p.m. match-up against Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa to close out the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic. Odessa (1-1) will play Barton at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Blue Dragon head coach Tommy DeSalme earned his 398 career coach victory on Friday.

Hutchinson found itself trailing Odessa 81-73 after a Daniel Rivera dunk with 7:05 remaining in the second half. That was a 17-point turnaround from Hutchinson's largest lead of nine points in the first half.

Kobe Campbell sparked the Hutchinson rally by scoring eight points in a 10-2 Blue Dragon run over a stretch of 4 minutes, 31 seconds. Campbell's dunk with 2:31 left gave Hutchinson an 85-83 lead. Rivera hit Odessa's only field goal of the final 7:05 with 1:39 left to tie the game. Two Dian Wright-Forde free throws with 17.4 seconds left gave the Wranglers an 88-87 lead.

The Dragons had a shot attempt with 9.1 seconds left blocked out of bound. Inbounding under the basket, Hutch's Jacquez Yow as fouled with 5.2 seconds to play. After that call, a technical foul was assessed to the Odessa bench. Angelo Stuart hit the technical free throws to give the Dragons the lead and Yow converted both free throws for the original foul for a 91-88 lead.

Odessa pulled with one with two Daniss Jenkins free throws with 1.6 second left. Nate Goodlow hit 1 of 2 free throws with for a 92-90 lead and Odessa was unable to fire a final shot attempt.

Stuart led the Blue Dragons with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists. Yow added a season-high 21 points, hitting 12 of 14 free throws. Campbell finished with 14 points and Aaron Franklin had 12 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Goodlow finished with nine points and Kaimen Lennox had eight points.

The Blue Dragons shot just 33.0 percent for the game (29 of 88), going 8 of 38 from 3-point range and 26 of 42 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 56-50. Hutchinson had 21 turnovers, but forced 31 Odessa turnovers.

The Blue Dragons had 19 steals for a second-straight game, which tied for the third-most steals in Blue Dragon single-game history. Goodlow had five steals and Yow had four steals for the Blue Dragons.

Odessa shot 45.1 percent from the floor (32 of 71), going just 3 of 19 from 3-point range and 23 of 35 from the free-throw line.

Jenkins finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Wranglers. Rivera had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Wright-Forde had 11 points.

Yow had 13 points and Franklin came off the bench to add 10 points as Hutchinson and Odessa were tied at 48-48 at halftime.

GAME NOTES – Hutchinson is now 3-0 all-time against Odessa. Hutch defeated Odessa 81-67 in the 2002 Mesa Rotary Shootout in Mesa, Arizona. The Dragons rallied from 17 points down to defeat the Wranglers 89-86 in the quarterfinals of the 2017 NJCAA Tournament, Hutch's second win on its way to the 2017 national championship. … The Blue Dragons had 27 offensive rebounds and outscored Odessa 26-18 in second-chance points. … The Dragons outscored Odessa 29-20 in points off turnovers.