Cougars drop another game down the stretch

Cougars drop another game down the stretch
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team could easily be 2-0 in Jayhawk West play but instead are now 0-2 after losing another late 2nd half lead. Barton led by 7 with 4 minutes to play, but scored just 2 points those final 4 minutes as Dodge City left the Barton Gym Saturday night with an 83-79 win over the Cougars. Barton is now 12-3 overall and will take their 0-2 mark on the road in West play for the next two contests. Barton will travel to Concordia to take on Cloud County Wednesday night then Liberal for a contest with Seward County Saturday night. Dodge City is now 1-1 in the West and 9-6 overall.

Highlights
The Cougars trailed only briefly in the early stages of the 2nd half but after Chris Jackson hit a 3-pointer, a pair of free throws and another trey, Barton took a 53-46 lead on Dodge with 15:47 to play. Barton would hold that lead for the next 13 minutes. It got as high as 8 with 11 minutes to play.

But the Conquistadors Jase Herl answered the 3-point shooting Jackson with a great night behind the arc himself. A pair of 3-pointer in a 1 minute span cut the Barton lead to 62-58 with 9:45 to play. Barton still seemed to be in control with 4 minutes to play when Matt Simmons hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 77-70 lead. But over the next two minutes as Dodge City scored just 1 point, Barton failed to put the game away. And when Ty Patterson hit a 3-pointer with 1:32 to play, Dodge was suddenly down just 1 at 77-76.

Cory Perkins gave Dodge the lead with a layup, 78-77, with 52 seconds to play. Barton had a chance to retake the lead bu- Javon Parris missed a jumper with 37 seconds to play. Patterson hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 79-77. On the ensuing Barton possession, a Jackson turnover with 18 seconds left gave the ball back to Dodge. This time Herl knocked down 2 free throws for an 81-77 lead. The Cougars managed to get 1 more shot at a tie after Perkins missed a free throw with 10 seconds left but a Jackson 3 was errant and Dodge held on for the win.

Jackson scored 18 to pace the Cougars, followed by Parris with 16 and Chip Steven with 15. Simmons had 9 rebounds to pace the Cougars. Herl, just 10-of-44 behind the arc coming into the game, hit 6-of-7 3-pointers on the night and scored 22 to lead Dodge. Perkins added 18 and Patterson 13.

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

Next 
Wed Jan 9 – at Cloud County, 8 pm (Jayhawk West play at Bryant Gym in Concordia)

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