DRAGONS REACH CENTURY MARK IN DECISIVE KJCCC ROAD WIN

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

PRATT – The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team surpassed the 100-point mark for the eighth time this season en route to a 31-point Jayhawk Conference road victory on Wednesday night.

Led by a career-high-tying 25 points from Kamryn Thomas, the No. 15-ranked Blue Dragons extended their win streak to five games with a 109-78 victory over the Pratt Beavers at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena.

Hutchinson improved to 19-3 overall and 14-2 in the Jayhawk Conference, remaining just one game behind first-place Barton and one-half game behind second-place Cowley. The Blue Dragons play host to the Cloud County Thunderbirds for HutchCC's annual Pink-Out Game at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons shot a blistering 65.0 percent in the first half in building leads as large as 23 points in the opening 20 minutes. Thomas scored 17 first-half points on 8 of 11 shooting, scoring four points in an initial 11-0 run to start the game. Hutchinson hit 26 of 40 shots in the first half to build a 59-38 lead at halftime.

Thomas matched his career high he initially set against Coffeyville in January on 11 of 18 overall shooting, going 3 of 8 from 3-point range. Thomas added seven rebounds and three assists.

Five other Blue Dragon players scored in double figures against the Beavers.

J.P. Ricks scored 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting with a 3-pointer. He added five assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Dallas Whitney came off the bench to score 15 points with four rebounds and tied a career-high with three blocked shots.

Valentino Simon, Kernan Bundy and Landon Wagler had 12 points each. Simon produced his seventh double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and three assists. Edwin Daniel tied a career-high with 10 points.

The Blue Dragons shot 56.1 percent for the game (46 of 82), hitting 8 of 26 from 3-point range and 9 of 13 from the free-thrown line. The Dragons had 27 assists on 46 games. Ricks, Russell Branch and Kobe Smith had five assists each. The Dragons owned a 42-35 rebounding advantage.

The Dragons had a season-low five turnovers in the game. That's the fewest turnovers in a game since 2014 when Hutchinson had only five turnovers against Colby.

Davonte Russ had a team-high 15 points to lead Pratt. Caleb Smith finished with 12 points and Deon McLaughlin had 10 for the Beavers.

Pratt shot 42.9 percent for the game (27 of 63), going 7 of 23 from 3-point range and 17 of 24 from the free-throw line. The Beavers had 16 turnovers.

The Dragons raced out to an 11-0 lead, holding Pratt scoreless for the first 3:31 of the contest. The Beavers pulled within 17-10, but Wagler scored on a putback to up the Dragon lead to 19-10 with 12:42 remaining in the half.

Leading 20-12, the Dragons went on a 7-0 run and took a 27-12 lead after a transition 3-pointer by Whitney with 11:24 remaining. Later leading by 14, Thomas hit back-to-back buckets to cap a 6-0 run and give the Dragons their first 20-point lead of 46-26 with 4:14 to play. The Dragons extended that run to 9-2 to take a 51-28 lead after two Wagler free throws with 3:13 to play in the half.

The Dragons closed the half with a flourish. Thomas scored with 45 seconds left, then the Blue Dragons got a Beaver turnover and turned that into a Whitney jumper from the left wing for a 59-38 halftime lead.

Thomas hit a 3-pointer to open the second half for a 24-point lead. The Beavers whittled that lead down to 19 after two McLaughlin free throws with 14:22 to play cut the Dragon led to 70-51. The Dragons countered with a 10-2 run and built a 27-point lead after Bundy scored in transition for an 80-53 lead with 11:45 to play.

The Dragon lead grew to 30 after Thomas scored on an offensive rebound putback with 7:19 to play for a 95-65 lead. Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 4:04 left to push the Blue Dragons past the 100-point threshold.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons scored their first win over Pratt of 30 or more points since 1999. … The Dragon are now 153-28 all-time against Pratt. … This was all-time win No. 1,913. … The Dragons are now 7-0 on the road this season. … The Dragons had their 10th game of 20 or more assists. … The Dragons owned a 28-11 advantage in points off turnovers and a 43-29 advantage in points off the bench.