Second half adjustment pays dividends, No. 2 Cougars pull away in home opener #GoBarton

Second half adjustments by the 2nd ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team Tuesday night paid dividends as the Cougars pulled away for a 93-74 victory hosting North Platte Community College.

Notching the first of a four-game homestand, the now 3-0 Cougars' plays host this weekend for the Best Western/Booster Club Classic, playing both Friday and Saturday's 7:30 p.m. contests against Northern Oklahoma College-Enid and Harry S. Truman College respectively. The Cougar women play the 5:30 p.m. tip-offs, Friday against Redlands Community College followed by the developmental squad of Kansas Wesleyan University on Saturday.

The Classic is joined by the nationally ranked squads from Hutchinson Community College, the top ranked defending champion women's squad playing the 1:00 p.m. contests with the 15th ranked Blue Dragon men taking the court for the 3:00 p.m. tips.

Barton found themselves in a first half dogfight to lead by just six but doubled up the margin three minutes coming out of the locker room.

North Platte connected on 8-of-13 from long distance in the first half keeping it close but in the final twenty the Cougar defense clamped down and held the Knights to just 3-of-11 three-point shooting and forced 11 turnovers.

The Cougars meanwhile were solid from beyond the arc at 44% (11-of-25), cutting down its miscues to just four in the second half, and controlled the paint for a plus-12 point advantage and an even larger plus-16 in points off turnovers.

Five Cougars reached double figures with nine scoring, Keandre Kindell leading the squad with a stat stuffing 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.

Fontaine Williams' 18 points and 3-of-5 three-point shooting and Pavel Ivanov's perfect three long distance ringing's for 13 points helped Barton to a plus-22 point advantage in bench scoring

Aris Rodriguez also contributed 13 points on 3-of-7 arc busting shots as Modibo Sanogo worked inside for 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Brent Moss led the Cougars to a plus-5 edge on the boards with a game high 13 rebounds while adding 6 points and distributing a team second best 4 assists.

Four Knights reached double figures led by Justus Michael's 21 points in part to 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Mo Diao added 18 points with 7 rebounds and team high 3 steals, Alex Harper's 3-of-7 led to 12 points, and Trey Summers knocked down a pair of treys towards a 10 point night with a team leading 4 assists. Daniel Nwauzu led in rebounding with 10, four coming on the offensive glass.