Cougars keep first half streak alive to capture 97-86 win over Colby

As been the case in all but four games this season for the Barton Community College men's basketball team, the Cougars came out strong Saturday night at the Barton Gym then held on for a 97-86 win over Colby Community College.  Despite shooting only 26% from beyond the arc the Cougars shot over 57% in the first half to build a twenty-two point intermission advantage.  Leading at halftime for the fourteenth straight game, Barton gave up fifty-five second half points but kept the Trojans at arm's reach to capture the victory.   Barton improves to 7-4 in the conference and 19-8 overall while keeping Colby winless in the conference at 0-11 and dropping the Trojans to 9-18 overall.  The Cougars remain in position to secure a home first round playoff game with three games remaining but the road will be a tough one.  Barton will close out consecutive road trips to conference leader Seward County Community College on Wednesday then travel to No. 15 ranked Hutchinson Community College next Saturday before wrapping up the regular season on February 26 against Garden City.  Game time for Wednesday's matchup with the Saints in Liberal, Kansas, is set for 8:00 p.m.

Darius Gibson led three Barton players in double-digits with thirty points, in part to 10-of-11 shooting from the charity stripe, and led the Cougars with three steals while tying for the team lead in assists with five.  For the first time in five games, Raheem Johnson played 30 or more minutes in the contest making the most of the opportunity to tie a career high twenty-five points and post his 7th double-double of the season by grabbing ten rebounds to go along with a team high three blocks. Tyler Corley, who had family in attendance for first time this season, scored seventeen points while tying Gibson for the team lead in assists with five.  Shooting a sizzling 52.4% (11-of-21) from behind the arc in the last five games, Corley knocked down 2-of-4 from behind the arc Saturday night.

Jeremiah Ingram led five Colby players in double-digits with twenty-three points while tying for the team lead in assists with five.  The sharp shooting Branden Williams knocked down 4-of-7 long range shots to finish with seventeen while Terry Starks connected on 2-of-5 from beyond the arc to finish with thirteen and tied Ingram with five assists.  Joey Meyer had a solid shooting night hitting 6-of-7 from the field to score twelve while Ramon Johnson came off the bench to score ten and grab a team high seven rebounds.