Mavrick Gildyard's contested layup underneath with 3.1 seconds remaining saved the Barton Community College men's basketball team in a nail-biting 87-86 victory over Seward County Community College Saturday night at the Barton Gym.
The second straight victory for the nationally receiving votes Cougars improves their conference leading mark to 9-3 in the Jayhawk West and 17-4 overall while the Saints slip to 5-7 in conference play and 12-9 on the year.
The Cougars will travel back out on the road for a matchup against Hutchinson Community College on Wednesday evening as the nationally receiving votes Blue Dragons sit two games behind in the standings at 7-5 and 16-5 on the year.
Diovonte Caldwell sunk a one throw attempt converting a rare four point play following his left-wing trifecta pushing Barton ahead early 8-7. Following a 1-for-2 trip from the charity stripe by Gildyard, the two point Barton lead shrunk rapidly following four turnovers priming to a 7-0 Saints run digging Barton into their largest deficit of the evening 15-9 with 13:09 to play in the opening stanza.
Falling behind by as many six once more midway through the opening half, the Cougars caught fire from lone distance as back-to-back treys from Martin Vogts and Keandre Bowles knotted the contest up at 21. Making just his fourth start on the season, Bowles caught fire offensively scoring eleven straight including his second first half triple springing Barton into the locker rooms on top 44-40.
Following five Barton turnovers including a dry 0-for-5 spell from the field to open the second frame, the switch flipped for the Cougars offensively. Barton caught fire shooting a blistering 8-for-9 over the next 3:41 as Vogts accumulated for two-of-three Cougar triples during a 19-2 run capped on Anthony Atkinson-Enneking's coast-to-coast flush stretching Barton's margin to 70-58 with 9:37 to play.
Seizing all momentum for the time being, a pair of Bowles throws guided the Cougars out to its' largest advantage of the night 81-68 with just under five minutes remaining. However, the once thirteen point lead would evaporate over the next three minutes as the Saints heated up climbing back to take their first lead 84-83, since the 13:51 mark of the second half during a 13-2 spurt.
Looking as if all hope was tossed out the window now trailing, freshman Jaheim Holden's jumper halted a three minute scoring drought, lifting Barton ahead once more 85-84 with fifty-three ticks remaining. A failed defensive rebound attempt pushed the Saints back ahead one final time 86-85 following a put back jumper from Surakata Jawara. Following a deflection underneath with five seconds left, Holden dished out his game high six assist of the night on the inbounds finding the streaking Gildyard underneath with 3.1 seconds remaining giving Barton the final outcome 87-86.
Bowles led four Cougars in double figure scoring a game high twenty-one points on a perfect 9-for-9 night from the charity stripe. Vogts delivered a bench high fifteen points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. Holden added fourteen with Desean Munson finishing a rebound shy of a double-double performance tallying twelve points. Gildyard the hero of the night finished with a game high ten rebounds.
Greg Johnson led five Saints in double-figure scoring sixteen points on 7-of-10 shooting. Rostyslav Novitskyi added sixteen while Kyle Cardaci scored fourteen off the bench. Ramiro Santiago and Surakata Jawara contributed thirteen and twelve respectively.