Cougars roll to wins at Shoot-Out; head to break with 12-2 mark
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team probably doesn't want the semester to end the way the Cougars are currently playing, but it did come to an end at the Jayhawk Shoot-Out in Coffeyville over the weekend with Barton posting two more wins.
The wins gave the Cougars an 11-game winning streak and pushes their record to 12-2 with the non-conference slate now complete. Barton rounded out that non-conference portion of the schedule with an 83-50 win over Johnson County on Friday and a 79-65 win over Allen County on Saturday. The Cougars are now off until Jan. 3 when Seward County visits the Barton County Gym to start Jayhawk West action.
Highlights
Barton made things very easy early Friday to tip off the 2003 Shoot-Out. The Cougars bolted out of the gates to a 17-2 lead on Johnson County and were never challenged from that point in the contest that tipped at 9 am. Barton led 49-22 by intermission before coasting to the easy win. Every Cougar played at least 12 minutes and only two saw more than 20 minutes of playing time.
Barton's leading scorer this season, JP Batista, again led the Cougars, scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in 18 minutes of playing time. Rone Smith added 15 points while Tyler Luke finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman point guard Aubrey Bruner led the Cougars with 6 assists and added 8 points to go with no turnovers. Barton turned the ball over 11 times – 8 coming in the final 12 minutes of the game.
Saturday was a bit more of a challenge for the Cougars but Barton led by double digits nearly the entire way before posting the 79-65 win over Allen County. Batista had a huge afternoon in the win Saturday tossing in career-high matching 32 points to go with 9 rebounds. Batista hit 13-of-21 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
He was joined in double figure by Julian Rose who knocked down 3-of-5 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. Justin Rose and Luke each had 5 assists while Bruner and Luke each snagged 3 steals. Another positive sign for the Cougars was a 13-of-17 effort from the free throw line from a team that is hitting just 61 percent from the line.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Jan. 3 – vs Seward County (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton County Gym)
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Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports