The Barton Community College men's basketball team pulled away in the final ten minutes Friday to win 87-70 over Region VI foe Independence Community College in the Best Western Angus Inn and Cougar Booster Club Classic. Leading the game's last twenty-eight minutes, a pair of stretches in the final quarter of the game accumulating for a 16-1 advantage in a matter of three minutes was the big difference in the win. The Cougars improve to 9-1 on the season while Independence slips to 3-6. Barton will wrap up the Thanksgiving Classic at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night taking on Cowley College, a 90-87 loser to Division II powerhouse Brown Mackie College.
Barton again had balanced scoring and a boost from the bench with three of the five players reaching double digits coming from the non-starting role. Ahmad Walker led all scorers with twenty-seven, twelve coming from a 12-of-14 performance from the charity stripe. Coming off the bench, Christian Smith set career high marks with sixteen points and eight rebounds, tying Walker for game high honors. Reserves Tyron Hamby and Khalil Gracey each scored eleven while Tyrone Acuff added ten. Hamby led a sixteen assist team effort with four while Smith and Acuff led in thefts with three each.
Independence placed only two players in double digits but had scoring contributions from all twelve players. Jerry Melton led the Pirates with sixteen while James Jappa muscled inside for twelve points. Eric Green came off the bench to lead with five rebounds while Jammar Sturdivant dished out a team high four assists to go along with nine points.
