Barton drops pair at Coffeyville Classic

Barton drops pair at Coffeyville Classic
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team came home from Coffeyville winless this past weekend, dropping a pair of games to Jayhawk East schools. Barton lost to unbeaten Neosho County Friday, 69-68, then came up short to host Coffeyville Saturday, 74-65. The losses drop Barton below the .500 mark at 3-4 this season. The Cougars will finally return home this week after 5 straight road games. Barton, 2-0 at home, will host the Walnut Bowl/Cougar Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic Thursday through Saturday. Western Wyoming, Iowa Western, and Westchester (NY) will play in the Classic with Cougars.

Highlights
The Cougars fell way behind Neosho to start the Classic off Friday but made a furious rally to take the lead in the 2nd half. Neosho jumped to a 15-point lead on the Cougars at 29-14 with just less than 7 minutes to play in the 1st half. Barton was able to trim the lead to 40-32 by halftime. During the 2nd half Barton came out on fire. Barton outscored Neosho 20-5 during the 1st 7 minutes of the half to take a 52-45 lead on the Panthers. The Cougars held the lead for better than 10 minutes before Neosho retook the lead at the 4:31 mark.

The two clubs traded the lead until Neosho grabbed a 69-66 lead with 11 seconds to play. Barton scored with 2 seconds left on an Antanas Kavaliauskas layup to make it 69-68. The Cougars then intercepted the inbounds and got a timeout called with still 1 second left but were unable to get off a shot. Kavaliauskas paced the Cougars with career-high marks in points and rebounds. The 6-10 sophomore tossed in 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. It was his 3rd double-double of the young season. Aubrey Bruner and Marcus Barrett each added 13 points.

Barton had its chances against the Classic host Coffeyville Saturday as well but were unable to beat the Red Ravens on their home floor – a task just two teams have accomplished in the past 5 years. Barton led for much of the 1st half, leading by as many as 5 points in the opening stages. But a 13-0 run by Coffeyville turned a 22-19 Barton lead into a 32-22 Coffeyville advantage. The Red Ravens maintained that lead the rest of the opening half, leading 43-34 at the break.

Barton did battle back in the 2nd half after trailing by as many as 16 in the opening stages of the 2nd half. When Bruner drilled a 3-pointer at the 5:40 mark Barton was within 6 at 52-46. A pair of free throws by Kavaliauskas with 2:29 to play made it 67-63. Two more Barrett charity tosses kept it at 4, 69-65, but Coffeyville would pull away for the 9-point win in the final minute. Barrett led 4 Barton players in double figures with 17. Bruner and Wisniewski each had 13 while Kavaliauskas ended with 12.

Stats
Full box scores and stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Thurs., Nov. 25 – v Western Wyoming, 7:30 pm (Walnut Bowl/Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic)
Friday., Nov. 26 – v Iowa Western, 7:30 pm (Walnut Bowl/ Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic)
Sat., Nov. 27 – v Westchester (NY), 7:30 pm (Walnut Bowl/ Booster Club Thanksgiving Classic)

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