Defensive second half effort moves No. 19 Cougars into second place conference tie
Employing explosive runs and stifling second half defense, the Barton Community College men’s basketball team had little trouble in dispatching Cloud County Community College 60-41 Wednesday at the Barton Gym. Opening the contest with a 21-5 run and sealing the victory with a 17-4 run, the Cougar defense was equally impressive holding the T-birds to seventeen second half points, six coming in the game’s final nine minutes. Concluding the first half of the conference season in second place at 6-2 in the Jayhawk West and 19-3 overall, Barton drops Cloud to sixth place at 3-5 and 12-10 on the season. The Cougars begin the second round of conference play on Saturday as they host Seward County Community College, who is also tied with the Cougars in the standings. Game time scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Barton Gym.
After a subpar performance in Barton's last outing, Turon Parker bounced back to lead the Cougars in scoring with fifteen points and three assists. Algie Key, who sits in tenth place all-time in the Barton record books, moved to within five points of ninth with his thirteen point effort. Andell Cumberbatch recorded his fifth double-double of the conference season scoring thirteen points and grabbing a career high seventeen points. Coming off the bench, Shaka Thomas sparked the Cougars' decisive 17-4 second half run dishing out two assists while knocking down two treys to finish with six points.
Edward Dyson led only two Cloud players in double digits with fifteen while Gerrae Williams scored thirteen. James Williams led the T-birds in rebounding with twelve.