Timely treys lead Barton men to victory at Neosho County

Getting timely long distance shots Monday afternoon in Chanute, the Barton Community College men's basketball team won their fourth straight contest with a 76-64 victory at Neosho County Community College.  As John Barbee's long range bomb at the buzzer gave Barton a six-point halftime edge, 50% second half shooting by the Cougars including three treys from Malik Rhodes in the final five minutes proved clutch in securing the victory.  Barton improves to 10-3 in conference play and 14-3 on the season in sending the Panthers to their fourth straight loss dropping to 3-10 and 6-11 on the year.  Next up for the Cougars will be a Wednesday evening 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Barton Gym against the Trojans of Colby Community College.

Barbee led a balanced Barton attack of five players reaching double figures with fourteen points, knocking down 3-of-5 behind the arc giving the sophomore from Lawrence seven treys in the last two games.  Scoring eleven second half points, Rhodes finished with thirteen points with Ezekiel Charles coming off the bench for twelve points and seven rebounds while joining Rhodes and Jahlil Rawley with a team high three steals each.  Anthony Smith and Malik Toppin added eleven and ten respectively with the inside duo each just missing a double-double with nine rebounds each.  Rawley led a fifteen assist on twenty-four field goal Cougar distribution party with a game high six with Rhodes close behind with four.  Toppin recorded four blocks on the night with Smith rejecting two shots.

Marc Moon paced four Panthers in double digit soring with thirteen points while tying Austin Downing with a team leading four assists each.  Kyle Smith scored twelve, Downing added eleven, and Dion Union contributed ten off the bench.  Travon Bunch helped give Neosho a slim one rebound edge on the night grabbing a team high seven boards.