BLUE DRAGONS FALL ON THE ROAD AT BARTON
Blue Dragon Sports Information
GREAT BEND – Sophomore Jayden Garrison continued his strong offensive play and Antonio Green scored in double figures for the first time in eight games, but the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team went cold over the final seven minutes on Saturday night as the Blue Dragons fell under the .500 mark for the season.
Five Barton players scored in double figures as the Cougars pulled away in the final 7 minutes to defeat Hutchinson 97-89 at the Kirkman Activities Center.
The Blue Dragons fell to 14-8 overall and 8-8 in the Jayhawk Conference with key home games coming up against Cowley on Wednesday and Butler on Saturday. Barton is now 14-7 overall and 9-6 in the KJCCC. Barton claimed its first season sweep of the Blue Dragons since 2015.
Dre Weathers scored with 7:08 to play in the second half to tie game at 75-all. The Cougars then outscored Hutchinson 22-14 down the stretch as the Dragons had just four field goals over that span. The Dragons had 12 of their 17 turnovers in the second half and the Cougars used that to build a 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
Garrison scored 19 points to lead the Blue Dragons. Garrison had a pair of 3-pointers.
Green had his second-highest offensive output of the season with 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Green just missed a double-double with eight rebounds.
Aaron Potter was 7 of 7 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds. Aaron Franklin finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Ra'Sean Frederick and Weathers scored eight points each.
The Blue Dragons shot 31 of 71 for the game (43.7 percent), hitting 8 of 29 from the 3-point line and 19 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 46-45.
Cougar Downing scored a game-high 28 points to pace the Cougars. Downing was 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. Aime Rutayisire had 17 points. Ring Malith had 12 points. Mozae Downing-Rivers and Hannes Saar had 11 points each.
Barton shot 33 of 71 from the field (46.5 percent). The Cougars were 4 of 17 from the 3-point line and 27 of 40 from the free-throw line. The Cougars had just eight points.
The Cougars opened the game with a 16-5 run over the first 3:16, but the Blue Dragons settled down and countered with a 15-4 run and took a 20-19 lead after a Garrison jumper with 11:13 to play in the first half.
The Blue Dragons continued to surge, getting 3-pointers from Green and Potter and when Franklin scored wit 5:21 to play in the half, the Dragons had a 38-30 lead. Barton rallied back with a 10-2 run and tied the game at 40-all with a Malith 3-pointer with 2:27 to play in the half.
Weathers scored inside with 13 seconds to play to give the Dragons a three-point lead, but a Stefan Spray dunk just before the buzzer cut the Dragon lead to 45-44 at halftime.
Trailing 54-52, Potter hit a 3-pointer and added two free throws on back-to-back possessions to give the Dragons a 57-54 lead. The lead increased to five at 63-58 after a Steele Gaston-Chapman jumper with 13:46 remaining.
Barton led 75-73, but Weathers scored to knot the game at 75-all with 7:08 to play. Barton scored six unanswered points after that and never looked back. The closest the Dragons got after that surge was four points after two Green free throws cut the Barton led to 85-81 with 3:49 to play. Downing then nailed a 3-pointer on the next possession to make it a three-possession game.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 91-31 all-time against Barton, including 36-15 in Great Bend. … The Dragons are 4-5 on the road this season. … The Blue Dragons are now 12-4 this season when leading at halftime. … This was the eighth time this season the Blue Dragons have held an opponent to less than 50-percent shooting. … Jayden Garrison has scored 99 points in his last five games.