Barton ends season with loss to Cowley in semifinals of Region VI play
The Barton Community College men's basketball team had its season come to an end thanks to some hot shooting by Cowley in the semifinals of the Region VI basketball tournament. The Cougars lost to the Tigers, 97-89 Sunday night at Koch Arena in Wichita to ends its season with a 28-5 record. That is the most wins by the Cougars since Barton won 29 games in 2001 and finished 7th at the NJCAA National Tournament. Cowley lost in the final to Garden City, which will advance to the NJCAA tournament with a 23-11 record. During the season Barton won the Jayhawk West title for the first time in 6 years. The Cougars came up short of its first Region VI title since 2001.
Highlights
The Cougars played catch-up nearly all game long as Cowley bolted out of the gates to a 27-9 lead in the opening 7 minutes of play. The Tigers – who make about 3 3-pointers per game – buried 2 in the 1st minute and 6 of its 1st 8 as they built the 18-point lead on Barton. But the Cougars came roaring back to make it a game. Barton trailed 38-24 with 5 minutes left in the half when the Cougars began their run on a pair of Marcus Butler free throws. Taaj Ridley and Corey Bingham scored to make it 38-30 and Butler answered a Cowley basket to keep it at 8, 40-32. Chp Steven got the crow going with a long 3-pointer to cut the Cowley lead to 40-35 and another Butler free throw made it 40-36 with 2 minutes left in the opening half. Another Steven 3-pointer with 1:30 to play cut the lead all the way to a single digit at 40-39 before Cowley took a 44-41 lead to intermission.
Barton would briefly get the lead in the 2nd half by as many as 3 when Bingham hit a 3-pointer for a 58-55 lead with 14 minutes to play. But Cowley would take the lead back and began to pull away as the half wore on. The Tigers led 77-73 with 6 minutes to play before extending that lead to double figures over the next couple of minutes. When the Tigers hit their 12th and final 3-pionter of the game they had an 85-73 lead with 3:47 to play. From there the Tigers would be 10-of-12 from the free throw line to secure the win.
Bingham had another good game for the Cougars, netting 26 points to go with 5 assists. Butler added a career-high 23 against his former team and Steven scored 13. Barton's West Player of the Year Nyika Williams battled foul troubles and scored just 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 21 minutes. Jack Crowder led Cowley with 26 points while Jawanza Poland added 20. Caprest Rohn – with just 7 3-pointers made coming into the game – hit 4 in the game for 14 points. Cowley hit 12-of-22 3's in the win.
Barton's season comes to a conclusion with a 28-5 record. Bingham was named to the All-Tournament team for his play in the Region VI tournament. It was the final game for sophomores Williams, Bingham, Steven, Butler, Scrap Martin and Matt Simmons.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Season complete with 28-5 record.
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