Hutchinson CC Sports Information
ARKANSAS CITY – A cold-shooting second half doomed the No. 10 Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team on Saturday night against the Cowley Tigers.
Sophomore Kobe Campbell had a career-high 24 points, but the Blue Dragons shot only 31.7 percent in the second half and the No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons lost 83-80 as Scott Auditorium.
The Blue Dragons, who suffered their first road loss of the season, fell to 18-4 overall and 12-4 in the Jayhawk Conference, dropping out of a first-place tie with Dodge City. The Blue Dragons travel to Butler on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game in El Dorado. Cowley is now 13-10 overall and 8-8 in the league.
The Blue Dragons trailed by 15 points at 21-6 after a Xavier Valley 3-pointer with 12:26 to play in the opening half. The Dragons answered with a 24-4 run over the next 5:50 and grabbed a five-point lead at 30-25 on a Josiah Harris 3-pointer from the right corner with 6:31 to play.
Hutchinson maintained that five-point lead for the next couple of minutes, but Cowley closed the half on a 13-4 run to lead 45-41 at halftime.
The Blue Dragons trailed by as many as nine points – 60-51 with 12:02 remaining. The Dragons battled back to take a 70-65 lead on a Jacquez Yow basket in the pain with 6:04 to go. Cowley answered with a 6-0 run. A Campbell jumper with 2:55 left gave the Dragons a 77-76 lead.
Cowley grabbed the lead for good when Raishaun Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 2:06 left on a possession that the Tigers grabbed three offensive rebounds to maintain possession. The Dragons had several chances down the stretch, but couldn't get that clutch basket to remain the lead.
The Dragons were 13 of 41 shooting overall (31.7 percent), including 2 of 14 from 3-point range in the second half.
Campbell hit 11 of 19 total shots to close with a career-high 24 points. Campbell also had eight rebounds and four steals to lead the Blue Dragons. Yow was the only other Blue Dragon to score in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds. Angelo Stuart was held to a season-low eight points, while Harris and Nate Goodlow had seven points.
The Blue Dragons shot 37.3 percent for the game (28 of 75), hitting only 5 of 29 3-point shots and 19 of 32 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Cowley 49-34. The Dragons had 20 turnovers.
Clarence King led the Tigers with 21 points. Brown had 16 points, while Mekhi Cameron had 14 points and Valley finished with 10 points.
Cowley finished shooting 50.9 percent for the game (28 of 55), going 7 of 14 from 3-point range and 20 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Tigers committed 26 turnovers.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 7-1 in road games this season. … The Dragons lead the all-time series with Cowley 87-46. … Nate Goodlow had seven steals in the game as part of a team total of 17 for the Blue Dragons. … Cecil Lee had a team-high 10 rebounds. … The five Blue Dragon 3-pointers were a season low.