It came as no surprise the last possession would decide the victor Saturday afternoon at the Barton Gym as Mozae Downing-Rivers' game winning three-pointer at the buzzer delivered the Barton Community College men's basketball team to a 76-73 thrilling victory over 8th ranked Dodge City Community College.
With neither team owning more of an eight point advantage throughout the Jayhawk Conference battle, the lead changed hands ten times with the 10th tie being broken by the double-clutched, contested game winner two feet beyond the arc setting off a frenzy from the Cougar faithful onto the L.T. and Sheila Fleske Court.
The victory caps the first run through the conference slate as Barton remains tied for fourth at 7-5 and 12-6 on the season while Dodge City slips to 10-2 in league and 14-4 overall.
Barton has another home game on the schedule next, welcoming Garden City Community College to the Barton Gym on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip as the Busters will be looking to avenge a 91-82 home defeat to the Cougars back on November 16.
The Cougars led by two at 73-71 following Hannes Saar's pair of free throws with 3:44 left but each team struggled to convert countless opportunities for the next three minutes. Each committed a pair of turnovers in the stretch, missed four shots on the offensive end with the game tying bucket coming off an offensive rebound locking the teams' up at 73 with 38 seconds left.
Barton's quick three-point attempt went begging giving Dodge City thirty-one seconds for the game winning chance. The Cougars held steady with pressure keeping the Conquistadors out of sync before D.J. Jones found the gap he needed in driving towards the cup. Fouled on the drive, Jones' pair of free throw tosses missed its mark setting up the final 7.1 seconds.
Securing his seventh rebound of the contest, Joseph Locandro handed off to Downing-Rivers as the Lawrence freshman dribbled straight up the court, pumped faked a Conquistador defender, before sending the big shot through the twine as the horn sounded.
Downing-Rivers and Locandro led the Cougars in scoring with 18 points each, Downing-Rivers dishing out a game high 6 assists in 37 minutes of court time while Locandro made his contributions in just 20 minutes of action due to foul problems. Cougar Downing added 16 points with Cooper Jackson leading the team with a career high 9 rebounds for the 6'1" guard while solidifying his region leading thefts with a game high 4 steals.
Jason Edwards left his impression as one of the region's best scorers, leading all players with 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 7-of-11 from the stripe. Jones ended up with 12 points, Chris Robinson added 10 points, and Jacobi Sebock contributed 8 points with a team high 9 rebounds helping the Conquistadors to a plus-3 advantage on the boards.