Barton takes West lead with thrilling win over Seward
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team took over the lead in the Jayhawk West with an 89-88 win over Seward County Saturday night at the Barton County Gym.

The win moves the No. 7 ranked Cougars to 21-2 overall and 8-1 in the West while No. 4 Seward falls to 20-3 and 7-2.

Highlights
The Cougars and Saints put on a show to remember at the Barton County Gym. The contest featured 18 lead changes and 7 ties before the Cougars finally put the game away at the free throw line late. Barton had taken the lead late when a turnover by Randy Pulley allowed Seward County's Daniel Jennings to give the Saints a 1-point lead. But Pulley made up for it with a 3-point play at the other end to give the Cougars the lead back. A lead they would not lose again.

Then it was a matter of Rodney Epperson hitting four straight free throws for the Cougars. The first two gave Barton an 87-83 lead but a long, guarded trey by Donnell Allick of Seward County made it 87-86 with less than 10 seconds to play. Epperson again hit two free throws and this time Allick missed his long attempt and a 2-point putback by Devonne Giles could only cut the lead to one point. The Cougars inbounded the ball and ran out the final 1.1 seconds for the win.

The win snapped a 3-game losing streak by the Cougars to the Saints as well as 2 straight losses at home to Seward County. Robert Whaley poured in 22 points to lead the Cougars, including 8 straight at one point late in the game to give the Cougars the lead. Justin Rose added 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor. Pulley ended with 17 points and 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Epperson had 16. The Saints were led by Giles with 24 and Allick with 23.

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

Next
Barton will be back on the road Wednesday, traveling to Pratt to take on the Beavers at the Beaver Dome. Tip is set for 8 p.m.

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Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports