No. 9 Cougars get defensive effort in running away with 84-52 win
Two days after picking up an important road conference victory, the No. 9 Barton Community College men’s basketball team showed no effects as they clamped down defensively to run away with an 84-52 victory over Dodge City Community College Monday at the Barton Gym. , Barton improves to 15-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Jayhawk West and held the Jayhawk West’s leading scorer Vic Adams to twelve points below his average to drop Dodge to 0-2 in conference and 8-8 overall. The Cougars return to the road on Wednesday to take on Garden City Community College before returning home for a Saturday contest against Butler Community College. Game time for Wednesday’s contest is 7:30 p.m. at Dennis Perryman Athletic Complex.
Dodge City jumped out to a four-point advantage which they held for the first five minutes before things unraveled for the Conquistadors. The inside play of Dominique Wilson, Raphael Stephens, and Raheem Johnson took control and scored the Cougars' next eight points to reverse the score to a four-point Barton advantage. Off the bench came Kevin Kuteyi and the microwave from Maryland knocked down back-to-back treys as the Cougars went on a 17-0 run in the next five minutes to lead 29-14 with nine minutes to play. After two A.J.Downing free throws ended the Dodge drought, Barton outscored the Conqs 19-8 to close out the half for a 48-24 advantage.
As much as the Cougars were hot from the field shooting 61%, the Barton defense was just as effective holding the Conqs to 24% shooting including limiting Dodge to under 17% from behind the arc. Barton also controlled the boards doubling up the Conqs 25-14 as four Cougars grabbed four or more rebounds.
In the second half the teams traded points for the next ten minutes as Barton only increased its lead by one to lead 64-39 with ten minutes to play. With the Cougars utilizing its bench play, Baron increased its lead to thirty-six with 3:40 to play behind Trey Unrau's three-pointer and the inside play of Dominique Wilson.
Barton's strong defensive play continued throughout the second half as the Cougars finished holding the Conqs to 30% shooting from the field which included only a 14% clip from behind the arc. The Cougars also held the Jayhawk West's leading scorer Vic Adams to only eight points on three-of-thirteen shooting, twelve points below his average. Cooling off to under 40% in the second half, the Cougars still shot nearly 50% from the game and 44% from long distance.
Andell Cumberbatch's nineteen points and eleven rebounds led the Cougars while Turon Parker and Kevin Kuteyi scored thirteen apiece. Despite not having a player in double-digits, Dodge had three players with nine points. Delvon Rencher, Keith Crockett, and A.J. Downing each scored nine while the Conqs second leading scorer Aaron Tate finished with five points after leaving the contest at 8:46 in the first half due to an injury.