Whaley, Epperson lead Cougars to win over Grayson County

Whaley, Epperson lead Cougars to win over Grayson County
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team improved to 8-0 for the year, winning during the first day of the Midland College Classic. The Cougars knocked off Grayson County by a 70-61 score in Midland, Texas.

No. 1 ranked Barton will play today at 5:45 p.m. against Odessa College at Midland.

Highlights
Some key runs propelled the Cougars to their second win over Grayson this season by just about the same final. Barton won earlier this year in Great Bend by a 72-59 score. Both games have been the lowest scoring outputs for the Cougars this season.

The first key run came in the first half with Barton County leading 16-13. The Cougars, keyed by eight points from Robert Whaley, went on a 12-4 run to push the margin to 28-17. Barton held that lead right around double digits for most the remainder of the first half.

Another big run came early in the second half after the Vikings bolted out of the gates to cut the lead to 39-33 with 16:30 to play in the game. Rodney Epperson played a key part in a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to give the Cougars a 53-37 lead. The big play in the spurt was a 4-point play by Epperson, who drilled a 3-pointer and added the free throw when he was fouled on the basket.

Grayson made one more run at Barton following the Cougars 14-4 run with a 7-0 run of its own to make it a 53-44 game. But a Whaley field goal and ensuing free throw, followed by a Justin Rose teal and an Epperson layup quickly pushed that lead back to 58-44. The lead remained double digits until the final minute as three 3's by Grayson at the end of the game cut into the Cougar's lead.

Whaley led the way for the Cougars 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor. Epperson added 20, hitting 4-of-8 3-pointers. The 20 points is a career-high for the Barton County freshman, surpassing his 19-point effort against SMS-West Plains.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Coach Ryan Wolf comments
Playing Grayson is like playing Princeton, they are so patient with the ball. I felt we really did a good job of playing defense, especially in the first half. We forced four or five shot clock violations on defense and held them to one offensive rebound in that first half.

Beating Grayson by 9 is like beating some other teams by 20, since the pace is so slow. We had it up to 15 or so a few times but couldn't get it up to 20. But then again, they really wouldn't let you get away from them.

Next
Barton has two more games in Midland, playing Odessa Friday at 5:45 p.m. and finishing with host Midland College Saturday at 8 p.m.

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Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports