Cougars survive overtime thriller with Cloud; Clark knocks down game-winner

Cougars survive overtime thriller with Cloud; Clark knocks down game-winner
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team is making a habit of overtime. After dropping a heart-breaking overtime contest at Dodge City Saturday, the Cougars were able to walk away with an overtime win over Cloud County Wednesday night at the Barton Gym. The Cougars held serve on their home floor over the co defending champions of the Jayhawk West when freshman Blaine Clark knocked down a jumper in the lane with 13 seconds to play to give Barton a 62-61 win over the Thunderbirds. Barton, ranked No. 12 in the nation, improves to 15-1 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk West. Cloud County lost in conference play for the 1st time, evening their mark at 1-1 in the West and falling to 13-3 overall on the season.

Highlights
The Cougars played from behind most of the 2nd half, trailing by as many as 6 on a couple of occasions and by 5 points early in the overtime. Cloud grabbed that 5-point lead in OT with 3 minutes to play when Clark hit the 1st of his 2 big shots in the overtime. Clark knocked down a 3-pointer 2:48 left in the overtime to cut the Cloud lead to 59-57. An Omar Johnson layup with 1:03 to play gave Barton a 60-59 – its 1st of the overtime. A pair of free throws for Ricky Jackson gave the Thunderbirds the lead back, 61-60 with 34 seconds to play.

The Cougars came back to the other end, running Clark of numerous screens until he got the ball, penetrated the lane and hit the pull-up in midlane with 13 seconds to play in the game. Cloud had one last chance at the other end as a Jackson long-range jumper bounded off at the buzzer to give Barton the win.

Barton led just 4 times for a total of less than 2 minutes in the 2nd half and overtime, but it was enough to capture the win. Barton had its 2nd lowest point total of the season with the 62 points but in the end, it didn't matter much. After hitting just 32 percent in the opening half, Barton connected on 50 percent of its shots the final 25 of minutes of the 2nd half and overtime. Johnson led Barton with 19 points while Thiago Cordeiro added 8 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 blocks to the cause. Clark scored just 5 points – all in those final 3 minutes of overtime. Rudy Meo scored 15 to lead Cloud.

The Cougars will now turn focus to yet another tough West team when Seward (10-5, 1-1) pays a visit to the Barton Gym Saturday.

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

Next
Sat, Jan 13 – v Seward, 8 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton County Gym)

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