22nd ranked Cougars move into third place taking down 18th ranked Butler #GoBarton

In a pivotal matchup of top twenty-five teams, the 22nd ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team trailed just once Wednesday night at the Barton Gym rolling to a 92-75 victory over 18th ranked Butler Community College.

Following Butler's opening bucket the Cougars responded with a 10-0 run to never trail again, growing their ten point halftime lead to as many as twenty-five in salvaging the season series.

The victory moves Barton ahead of Butler by a half game for third place in the conference standings at 12-5 and 18-5 overall with the Grizzlies slipping to 11-5 and 16-6- on the season.

Next up, the Cougars look to avenge another previous loss to an opponent, Saturday making the short drive south for a 4:00 p.m. tip at Pratt Community College. The Beavers, 6-10 in conference and 10-12 overall, stunned the Cougars 85-83 back on December 7 in the Barton Gym.

Forty-nine fouls with 73 free throws tested both teams at the stripe, the conference leading Cougars sinking 29-of-37 (78.4%) with Butler making just 21-of-36 (58.3%). From the field Barton also had the edge on 40.9% shooting, 9-of-23 from beyond the arc, while Butler finished at a 34.3% clip, and 21.6% from long distance.

Brent Moss paced four Cougars in double figures with 22 points and 18 rebounds in posting his 10th double-double of the season.

Aris Rodriguez drilled a trio of arc busters for a 19-point outing with Keandre Kindell adding a stat-stuffing 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and game high 3 steals. Making his second straight start, Eltramon Smith, Jr. rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.

The Cougars also received a pair of nine-point key contributions off the bench, Fontaine Williams' triple starting another big 8-0 run helping Barton to its first double-digit lead before later in the half Lyna Brooks, Jr. breaking open a one-point lead under three to play with eight straight points including popping a pair of arc busters. Sebastian Muchitsch finished second on the squad with 7 rebounds, tacking on 6 points, in helping Barton outrebound the Grizzlies by eight.

Butler's leading scorer Russell Branch was saddled with foul problems most of the night but still managed to lead the squad with 14 points in just 19 minutes of court time. Seven Bahati added 13 points with Emeka Opurum scoring 12 points and tying Rashad McCormick with a team high 7 rebounds.