Cougars eclipse century mark for third time, six players reach double figures in victory at Pratt

The Barton Community College men's basketball team picked up their second consecutive win of the 2017 portion of their schedule scoring fifty-five second half points for a 103-89 victory at Pratt Community College.  The Cougars erased a two-point halftime deficit with the twenty minute surge getting two individual double-double performances and placing six players in double figures to reach the century mark for the third time of the season.  Barton remains in second place with the victory improving to 8-3 in the Jayhawk and 12-3 while sending Pratt to its third straight defeat having surrendered over a hundred points in dropping to the conference cellar at 2-9 and 4-10 on the year.  Next up for the Cougars will be a welcomed home game as Barton hosts Coffeyville Community College in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off Wednesday.

The Cougars' Anthony Smith and Keeshawn Palmer each recorded double-double performances on the night including combining for twenty-eight rebounds leading a thirteen rebound edge ofver the Beavers.  Smith made short work of this team leading fourth such performances grabbing ten of his thirteen rebound and thirteen of his team leading seventeen points in first half action.  Counter to Smith's first half performance, Palmer did most of his damage in the second twenty minutes of play finishing with a career tying fourteen points and a personal best fifteen rebounds for his third double-double of the year.

Malik Rhodes matched Smith's scoring output to share team high honors sinking 8-of-9 free throws as the Cougars shot nearly 83% from the stripe including making 19-of-22 in first half play.  Charles Norman and Malik Toppin each dropped sixteen while Noah Webster joined Palmer off the bench to reach double figures scoring ten points knocking down two of his three shots from beyond the arc.

Pratt had three players reach double figures led by the eighteen point eight rebound performance from Devon Andrews.  Devin Marsh came off the bench to score seventeen while Jaylon Wilson added thirteen stroking 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc.

Trailing by two at the halftime break, the Cougars flipped the game with an 8-0 run early in the final twenty minutes to take a six point lead.  From there the Cougars methodically added to the lead outscoring Pratt 22-10 in those first eight minutes never allowing Pratt any closer than the ten point margin.