Cougars fall to No. 5 Coffeyville in thriller; go 1-1 in Pepsi Classic

Cougars fall to No. 5 Coffeyville in thriller; go 1-1 in Pepsi Classic
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team split a pair of games at the Pepsi Classic over the weekend at the Barton County Gym. The Cougars lost Saturday night to No. 5 ranked Coffeyville, 75-70, in a game that came down to the final minutes. Friday night Barton rolled to a 107-57 win over the Bacone (Okla) JV. The Cougars are now 7-2 this season while Coffeyville improves to 5-1. Barton will be back home next weekend as they host the Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic. Barton will play Brown Mackie Friday the host Northeastern Junior College (Colo) Saturday. The Classic will begin at 2 pm each day with the Barton men's games slated to tip at 8 pm.

Highlights
The Cougars led much of the game but the contest was close throughout with the Red Ravens. The game was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands 11 times. Neither team led by more than 8 points. The largest lead of the game for Coffeyville as the 5-point final margin.

Barton trailed 72-68 with less than one minute to play but nearly sent the game to overtime. Dominique White made it 72-70 on a layup with 30 seconds to play and Barton nearly got the ball back on a Coffeyville turnover. In fact, Coffeyville about turned the ball twice but held on and eventually made it 73-70 with one free throw with just 13 seconds to play. Barton's AJ Martin got off a long 3-pointer that bounded long and White rebounded and put up a desperation shot that missed. A foul on the Cougars with 0.6 seconds to play allowed Coffeyville to push the lead 5.

Barton was led by Martin with 18 points, pacing 4 Cougars in double figures. White added 16 while Reggie Love added 11 and Shaun James 10. Coffeyville was led by Darrius Blanding with 20 points off the bench on 5 3-pointers.

Barton had very little trouble against the Bacone JV. Barton scored the 1st 13 points of the game and were never threatened. The Warriors did respond with 6 straight for a 13-6 score but that would be as close as they would get. Barton pushed the lead to 35-15 then 50-22 and eventually 65-28 by halftime. The Cougars biggest lead of the game was 52 points on the way to the 50-point win.

Alex Pyle led 5 Cougars in double figures with 17 points – just 2 shy of his career high of 19. AJ Martin added 15 points while Andrew Emmons scored a career-high 14 points. Reggie Love had 11 while Shaun James turned in double-double effort with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

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

Next
Fri, Nov 25 – v Brown Mackie, 8 pm (Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic at the Barton Gym)
Sat, Nov 26 – v Northeastern (Colo), 8 pm (Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic at the Barton Gym)

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