Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to earn a crucial Jayhawk Conference victory on Wednesday night over the Barton Cougars.
The No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons rallied to defeat the Cougars 95-89 at the Sports Arena. Hutchinson's win, combined with a Dodge City loss at Seward County, pulls Hutchinson into a first-place tie with the Conquistadors.
The Blue Dragons improved to 18-3 overall and 12-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson travels to Cowley on Saturday. Barton slips to 11-9 and 5-9 in league play.
Hutchinson trailed 47-43 at halftime and were down 65-54 after an Evans Kipruto dunk with 13:59 remaining in the second half. The Blue Dragons, who shot only 33.3 percent in the first half, finally started to hit shots in the second half.
Trailing 82-81, Kobe Campbell's layup with 4:07 to play gave the Dragons the lead for good. Hutchinson outscored Barton 14-7 down the stretch which was capped by a huge Jacquez Yow dunk to seal the victory.
Sophomore Angelo Stuart hit four 3-point goals and finished with a team-high 20 points to lead the Blue Dragons. He had nine points in the second-half comeback.
Yow scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half. Yow hit a 3-pointer and was 8 of 11 from the free-throw line, adding seven rebounds and three assists.
Campbell returned to action from a two-game absence to finish with 14 points, nine in the second half. Freshman Jayden Hall sparked the Blue Dragons off the bench with a season-high 11 points and 3 of 5 shooting from distance. Sophomore Kaimen Lennox had 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Josiah Harris had nine points and nine rebounds.
The Blue Dragons closed the game shooting 38.4 percent (33 of 86), hitting 11 of 41 from 3-point range and 18 of 27 from the free-throw line. The Dragons had a slim 48-47 rebounding margin and turned the ball over a season-low nine times.
Cougar Downing had 23 points and six rebounds to lead the Cougars. Kipruto had 15 points, while Hannes Saar and Trey Bates finished with 11 points each.
Barton shot 46.8 percent (29 of 62) for the game, hitting 2 of 10 from 3-point range and 29 of 38 from the free-throw line. The Cougars has 21 turnovers.
The Dragons jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after layups from Harris and Lennox and a Yow 3-pointer. A Hall 3-pointer with 15:54 to play pushed the Dragon lead to 15-8. Barton responded and took a 20-18 lead after a Bates bucket with 10:50 to play. A Stuart 3-pointer gave the Dragons a 28-26 lead with 8:05 remaining. A Stuart layup with 7:49 to play pushed the Dragon advantage to 30-26.
Tied at 38-all, the Cougars scored six unanswered points for 44-38 lead after a Modibo Sanogo dunk for a 44-38 lead with 2 minutes to play in the first half. Still trailing by 6, Hall hit a critical 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to cut the Dragon deficit to three points. The Cougars led 47-43 at halftime.
With the Dragons trailing 55-54, the Cougars stunned Hutchinson with a 10-0 run in a span of 1:56 to take a 65-54 lead after a Kipruto dunk with 13:59 to play. The Cougars maintained leads of five to nine points for the next several minutes and led 80-71 after a Bates jumper with 9:25 to play.
The Blue Dragons responded with a 15-3 run. Hall and Nate Goodlow hit 3-pointers and Campbell's three-point play with 4:07 to go gave the Dragons a one-point led. Lee capped then run with a jumper with 3:13 to play and the Dragons led 86-83.
Hutchinson answered every Barton challenge after that, getting 4 of 4 free throws from Campbell and Stuart and a highlight dunk from Yow to close out the game.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 4-2 when trailing at halftime this season and are now 9-3 in games at the Sports Arena. … This was the Blue Dragons' 15th game of 20 or more offensive rebounds this season. … With 203 3-pointers for the season, the 2021-22 Blue Dragons jumped two spots to No. 8 on the all-time Hutchinson charts. … Angelo Stuart had his 16th game of 20 or more points or more.