Cougars lose double OT thriller at Garden; remain on top of West

Cougars lose double OT thriller at Garden; remain on top of West
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team and Garden City locked up in an ol' fashion Jayhawk West barnburner Saturday night in a game that feature two of the top 3 teams in the standings. When the night was done Barton County and Garden City sat tied atop the Jayhawk West after the Garden knocked off the Cougars, 81-76 in double overtime. The result – along with a Hutchinson loss at Pratt – left Barton and Garden tied on top of the West with 8-3 marks. Hutch is a 1/2 game back at 7-3. The Cougars and Broncbusters split their two meetings this year.

Highlights
The Cougars led much of the contest and had their chances to win the game in regulation and overtime. Barton jumped out to a 6-0 before Garden began to battle back to take an 18-17 lead. From that point traded the lead 7 more times before the end of the 1st half, which saw Barton take a 27-26 lead into the locker room.

A quick 12-6 run to start the 2nd half gave Barton a 39-32 lead with just less than 16 minutes to play when Rone Smith hit a layup on a nice feed from Aubrey Bruner. The Cougars would keep the lead until the final seconds of regulation. The margin grew to 10 at 56-46 at the 6:55 mark when Smith hit another layup, this time off an assist from Justin Rose.

Garden whittled the lead to 64-59 with 2:55 left in the game. That is where the scored remained for more than 2 minutes. Three missed 3-point attempts late in the shot clock and a turn over by the Cougars kept them scoreless for that stretch. Garden missed a pair of jumpers and turned the ball over as well during the 2 1/2 minute drought for both teams. The Broncbusters finally broke the dry spell when Marcus Morrison scored on a put-back with 28 seconds to play to make it 64-61.

Another Garden free throw made it 64-62, then came the free throw woes for the Cougars. Justin Rose hit 1-of-2 charity tosses followed by another Garden City offensive rebound and basket to make it 65-64 with 8 seconds left. A quick Garden foul put Joel Hannagan at the line. The sophomore hit 1-of-2 to make it 66-64 but a foul on the rebound by JP Batista gave Garden a chance to tie the game with 7 seconds to play. Davis was only able to convert on his 2nd attempt and Garden again fouled, sending Rose to the line for two more shots with 5 seconds left. Again the Cougars hit just 1-of-2 free throws to make it 67-65. On the miss of the 2nd free throw, the Broncbusters got the ball to Kevin Henderson who quickly drove down the floor and found an open Jason Price for a layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. It was the first time all night the game was tied.

The Cougars again established the lead in the overtime, taking a 72-68 lead on a Batista basket with 2:19 to play. The lead was again 4 when Batista hit 2 free throws with 1:45 to play for a 74-70 lead. That would be Barton's final points of the overtime. Two straight turnovers by the Cougars and another offensive rebound basket for the Broncbusters allowed Garden to tie the game 74-all with 16 seconds to play. The Cougars played for a final shot but Rose's tough running jumper didn't fall and the game went to a 2nd OT.

Both teams began to show some fatigue in the 2nd OT with high level of intensity in the contest as well as the extra minutes. Garden's James Davis and Barton's Batista traded buckets in the 1st minute of the 2nd OT to even the game at 76-all Neither team was able to score for the next 2:30. Each team went 4 possessions without a hoop. Torre Johnson finally broke the spell with 1:16 to play to give Garden a 78-76 lead. Barton had two possessions to tie the game but a turnover stopped them first then a missed shot and turnover kept them from tying the game on their 2nd chance. Another Johnson bucket with 22 seconds to play followed by another Barton turnover sealed the game for the Broncbusters.

Barton was led by Batista, who had to work hard for his 23 points and 12 rebounds. Smith added 14, Rose 13 and Bruner 10. Rose (49), Bruner (47) and Batista (41) were all workhorses for the Cougars, logging more than 40 minutes in the 50-minute game. Morrison led Garden before fouling out with 22 points. Davis added 21 and Johnson 20. Johnson (43) and Davis (45) each played nearly the entire game as well.

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

Next
Feb. 14 – v Colby, 8 pm (Jayhawk West contest and Homecoming at the Barton County Gym)

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