Cougars stay on top of West race with 18-point win over Butler at home

Cougars stay on top of West race with 18-point win over Butler at home
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team had to wait a few extra days once again to earn a home win in the Jayhawk West, but, like last week, the Cougars got the job done. For the 2nd straight week the Cougars Saturday home contest was postponed due to weather, moving the game to Monday night. This time it was Butler County who was the victim of the Cougars hot play. Barton rolled to an 81-63 win over the short-handed Grizzlies in a game the Cougars put away with a 12-0 run at the end of the opening half. The win improved the No. 10 ranked Cougars to 18-1 overall and on top of the West with a 5-1 record. Butler fell to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the West. Hutch will come to the Barton Gym next, sporting a 16-3 overall mark and a 3-2 record in the West.

Highlights
Barton was in control from the onset of the contest, leading by double figures just 8 minutes into the game and led by a 30-19 count with 5:15 to play. But a 9-1 run by Butler cut the Cougar lead to 31-28 with 2:17 left to play in the opening half. That is when Barton put the hammer down. The Cougars closed the half on a 12-0 run, during those 2-plus minutes. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Omar Johnson and Chris Jackson made it 37-28 just one minute later. Johnson added a jumper then Jackson and Johnson each had layups before the end of the half to give Barton a 43-28 halftime lead.

From there, Barton cruised in the 2nd half on the Grizzlies, who were playing without their top 2 scorers on the season in Tyree Evans and Tony Durant.  The Cougars never led by less than 15 during the final 20 minutes of play as Barton took solo possession of the West lead. With Barton's win and a Cloud County loss at home to Garden City, the Cougars are the only 1 loss team left in the conference.

Barton was led in scoring by Thiago Cordeiro and Omar Johnson with 16 points each. In addition to his 16 points, Cordeiro added 11 rebounds and 5 blocks while Johnson added 8 assists. Ivan Evans joined them in double figures with 12 points. The Cougars hit 48 percent from the floor in the win and forced the Grizzlies into 23 turnovers. Butler hit just 36 percent from the field. Butler was led by Ed Jones and Mike Garrison with 15 each.

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

Next
Wed, Jan 24 – v Hutch, 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