Cougars finally pick up 1st road win with victory at Colby

Cougars finally pick up 1st road win with victory at Colby
The Barton Community College men's basketball team earned its 1st road win of the season Wednesday night with a victory at Colby. The Cougars earned the Jayhawk West road win with a 64-51 win at the Community Building, stopping a 3-game losing skid. Barton is now 13-8 overall on the season and 3-4 in the West. The Trojans fell to 6-16 overall and 0-8 in the West. Barton will wrap up its 1st trip through the conference with a home date Saturday against Pratt. The Beavers will bring a 15-6 overall record to the contest including a 4-3 mark in the West.

Highlights
The game was a sluggish affair for most of the night as Barton shot just 40 percent from the floor and Colby just 33 percent. The exception was a 6-minute stretch that started midway through the 2nd half when the Cougars were explosive on offense. An 8-of-12 effort from the field during that 6-minute stretch of basketball proved to be the difference in the contest.

Neither team shot better than 36 percent in the opening half as Barton plodded its way to a 24-21 lead at intermission. The Cougars hit just 9-of-25 shots in the half, including a 3-of-12 effort behind the 3-point line. Colby hit similar numbers including a 2-for-12 effort on 3's. The opening 5 minutes of play in the 2nd half saw each team score just 2 points before the Cougars gave a quick flash of what was to come a little later in the half. Barton pushed the lead to 32-23 on the back of Colin Beatty reeling off 6 straight points in the paint. Colby, though, scored the next 6 points to close the gap to 32-29 with 11 minutes to play in the game.

That is when the Cougars took over. A put-back by Beatty pushed the lead to 5 before Colby cut it to 4 on a free throw. Barton followed with a 16-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Beatty continued his scoring streak for Barton, knocking down a 3-pointer and adding a jumper to give Barton a 39-30 lead. It also capped a stretch of 13 straight points by the freshman. But it didn't stop there for the Cougars. Dennan Morrow knocked down a 3-pointer and the Cougars followed with 8 straight points in the paint – 4 each from Ronald Baker and Kevin Smith – for a 50-30 lead with 5 minutes to play in the contest.

Colby trimmed the lead to just 8 with 2 minutes to play but Barton hit 8-of-11 free throws in the final 2 minutes to secure the win. Barton was led by Beatty with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Beatty also had 5 assists and 5 blocks. Joe Reid added a double-double as well in the contest with 14 points and 11 boards. Ebenezer Davis finished with 10. Colby put 3 players in double figures as well led by Aireus Stephenson with 14. The Trojans continued their shooting woes in the 2nd half and hit just 3-of-26 3-pointers in the contest.

Barton has a big game at home Saturday as Pratt comes to the Barton Gym for the 8 pm tip. The Cougars are currently sitting in one game behind Pratt and Dodge City for 4th in the West.

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

Next
Jan 30 – v Pratt 8 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)

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