Barton misses opportunity to secure share of West title; still leads league by 1 game

Barton misses opportunity to secure share of West title; still leads league by 1 game
The Barton Community College men's basketball team had a chance to secure at least a share of the Jayhawk West title Saturday night in El Dorado. But to do so the Cougars would have had to beat the league's 2nd place team on its home floor. It didn't happen. Butler, who has lost just once at home this year, rolled to an 86-70 win over the Cougars to keep the West race very interesting. Barton still leads at 10-3 with Butler 2nd at 8-4. Barton is 23-4 overall while Butler is 19-7. The Cougars – no longer with a chance to secure at least a share of the title with its next win – will host Hutchinson Wednesday night. The Cougars can lock down a top 3 West finish and remain a game up on the Butler in the loss column with a win.

Highlights
Barton fell behind quickly in the contest at 10-1 but put together an 8-0 run to take a 14-12 on the Grizzlies. Much of the opening 20 minutes of play were spent in a see-saw contest with Butler taking the lead with 4 minutes left in the half and holding it to a 35-31 halftime advantage. Barton would not lead again.

Barton trailed just 50-44 with 13 minutes left and was still very much in the contest. But over the next 2 1/2 minutes, Butler bolted to a 13-1 run as the Cougars turned the ball over twice and made only 1 free throw in that span. Butler knocked down 3 3-pointers in the run as the Grizzlies took a 63-45 lead with 10:30 to play. Barton would not get within single digits the rest of the way.

Barton struggled with the Butler defense, committing 21 turnovers and shooting its 3rd lowest percentage of the season at 40 percent. Nyika Williams led the way for Barton with 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Scrap Martin and Cornelius Brown both added 12 while Corey Bingham had 10. Bingham also had 5 assists and 5 steals. Butler blistered the nets in the 2nd half, hitting 61 percent over the final 20 minutes to put 51 points on the board. Caleb Walker led 5 Grizzlies in double figures with 21. Butler hit 8-of-19 3-pointers to just 3-of-15 for Barton. Barton also struggled at the line, hitting 27-of-48 at the charity stripe. The Cougars forced Butler into 27 turnovers of its own.

Now Barton will look to get back to winning when Hutchinson comes to the Barton Gym Wednesday for an 8 pm tip. Hutch didn't play Saturday but did beat Butler in its last outing. The contest will be "Pack the House" and "White Out" night at the Barton Gym with fans encouraged to wear white to the contest. Hutch will bring a 6-6 West mark and a 17-9 overall record into the contest. The Blue Dragons still have an outside shot at the conference title and are in the midst of a 4-team battle for what is currently 4th place in the West and the final home playoff spot.

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

Next
Feb 18 – v Hutch 8 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)

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