BLUE DRAGON MEN'S BASKETBALL |
No. 21 Hutchinson (22-7, 16-7) at Garden City (21-8, 15-8) |
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When: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 |
Blue Dragon Sports Information
The No. 21-ranked Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team closes the regular season on Wednesday at Garden City.
Tipoff at Garden City's Conestoga Arena is at 7:30 p.m.
Hutchinson opens play on Wednesday tied with Butler for second place in the Jayhawk Conference. Garden City is in fourth place, one game behind the Blue Dragons and Grizzlies. Butler plays at Independence on Wednesday.
The Blue Dragons, Broncbusters and Grizzlies could potentially end in a three-way tie for second place in the league. All four teams will earn opening-round byes for the Region VI Tournament, which starts Saturday.
The Blue Dragons will next play in the Region VI Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 1 in the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson was building quite a wave of momentum entering the postseason until Monday night when Pratt shot better than 56 percent and upset the Blue Dragons 112-100 at the Beaverdome. The loss snapped the Blue Dragons four-game winning streak and kept Hutchinson from sole possession of second place in the KJCCC. Angelo Stuart led the Dragons with 21 points.
Garden City was equally stunned on Saturday when the Busters fell 98-68 at Butler. Garden City enters the game on a two-game losing streak and went from No. 18 to completely out of the national rankings.
Back on January 15 in the Sports Arena, Hutchinson and Garden City put up a combined 259 points as the Broncbusters out-gunned the Blue Dragons 132-127.
The scores were the highest scored ever against each other and was the most combined points in the series' 159-game history.
Kaimen Lennox, Stuart and Kobe Campbell all scored at least 20 points to lead the Dragons, which shot only 41.3 percent but sank 13 3-pointers. Heru Bligen had 27 points, while Mohamed Diarra tallied 26 points and 22 rebounds for Garden City. The Busters shot 52.2 percent and out-rebounded the Dragons 64-55.
Hutchinson's Stuart continues to lead the KJCCC in scoring at 21.1 points per game. Diarra leads the NJCAA in rebounding at 12.8 boards per game.