Barton drops final game to Air Force Prep; 2-1 at Husky Classic

Barton drops final game to Air Force Prep; 2-1 at Husky Classic
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team survived a 3-game, 3-day excursion into the mountains of Colorado this past weekend, going 2-1 at the Husky Classic hosted by Air Force Prep on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy. Barton defeated a very tough Eastern Utah club to opening the tournament, handing the Golden Eagles their 1st loss of the year, 91-83. Barton then held off a pesky New Mexico Military team Friday, defeating the Broncos by a 74-66 score to start the season 5-0. But Prep proved too much for Barton in a rematch of the Cougars' season-opening win as the Huskies handed Barton its 1st loss, 79-71. Barton, 5-1, will take on the Sterling JV Wednesday night at the Barton County Gym then play host to the Pepsi Classic this weekend.

Highlights
Barton played perhaps its best game of the year to open the Classic, knocking off a very talented Eastern Utah team. It was the only loss for the Golden Eagles, who defeated NM Military and Air Force Prep by double digits. Barton, Eastern Utah and Air Force Prep each went 2-1 while NM Military finished 0-3. Barton.

In the win over the Golden Eagles, Barton took an early lead and never trailed. The Cougars built that lead to 13 by half, then held off the Eagles in the 2nd half. Eastern Utah made a couple of runs in the 2nd half but Barton responded every time. Berry, who had a huge tournament, led Barton with 28 points followed by Reggie Love with 21. AJ Martin, playing the point for Dominique White, who did not make the trip, handed out 14 assists. Shaun James had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cougars trailed much of the opening half with New Mexico Military as the Broncos built a 25-17 lead in the opening half. Barton quickly found its rhythm and by halftime had taken a 38-29 lead with a 21-4 run in the final 6 minutes. Barton pushed that lead to 15 points on a dunk by Chris Berry at the 7-minute mark to give the Cougars a 64-49 lead. The Cougars held the double digit lead until the final minute before winning by 10. Berry finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars. Martin had 14 points and 10 assists.

The Classic ended before the largest crowd of the weekend as Prep brought out the students for the final. About 250 cadets dressed in uniforms brought a very vocal atmosphere to the small gym. Barton kept the fairly quiet much of the opening half, building a 38-25 lead on the Husky with 5 minutes to play in the half. But the Prep ended the half on a 20-7 run the final 5 minutes to even the score at 45-all at intermission.

The Huskies then took the lead early in the 2nd half scoring the first 10 points of the half for a 55-45 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. The lead grew to 12 points once and Air Force Prep still led by double digits – 69-59 – with 5 minutes to play. Barton put together one final rally, trimming the score to 69-65 following a 3-pointer by Love with 3:47 to play, but that would be as close as Barton would get. Berry scored a career high 31 on 14-of-18 shooting from the floor. Martin added 11 and James 10 in the loss.

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

Next
Wed, Nov 16 – v Sterling JV, 7 pm (non conference action at the Barton County Gym)
Fri, Nov 18– v Bacone (Okla) JV, 7 pm (Pepsi Classic at the Barton County Gym)
Sat, Nov 19– v Coffeyville, 7 pm (Classic at the Barton County Gym)

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