Cougars ride key stretch to matinee win over Neosho County #GoBarton
Cougars ride key stretch to matinee win over Neosho County.
A two minute second half spurt provided the difference maker Tuesday as the Barton Community College men's basketball team came out victorious in the rare week-day matinee 93-86 over Neosho County Community College.
The fifth straight win improves Barton to 6-4 in conference play and 7-4 overall while Neosho County drops their second straight slipping to 3-7 in league and 5-7 overall.
The Cougar men will rejoin their women counterparts Wednesday night at Hutchinson Community College. The women's tip slated for 5:30 p.m. against the 16th ranked Blue Dragons while the men will take on an equally hot streaking Blue Dragon men's team receiving votes in the latest national poll at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.
Barton's decisive stretch came with twelve minutes left in the contest as the Cougars scored fifteen straight within a two minute span turning a deficit into a 75-62 lead with 9:56 remaining. The Cougars ramped up the defensive pressure, held Neosho County without a field goal for nearly four minutes, created turnovers and defensive stops resulting in multiple transition buckets and open-look jumpers.
The bench produced nearly half of Barton points led by the 25 points from Jaheim Holden and 15 points from Cameron Brooks-Harris as the duo knocked down 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Holden also led the team with six assists and four steals.
Justin Harmon added 24 points and six rebounds despite fouling out with 5:33 left to play. Desean Munson helped give Barton a plus-seven advantage on the glass, hauling down six of his 16 boards on the offensive end and dumping in 16 points for his second straight double-double performance.
Magic Reliford led three Panthers in double-digit scoring with a game high 30 points on 50% shooting including burying 7-of-15 beyond the arc. Tremaine Chesley poured in 22 points while De'Antray Hughes put up a double-double 19 point and 15 rebound effort.