Cougars one step closer to Jayhawk West title
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team took another step toward capturing the Jayhawk West Championship, knocking off Butler County, 65-58, Saturday night at the Barton County Gym. The win, coupled with a Seward County loss to Cloud County, assured Barton of at least a share of the Jayhawk West title and wrapped up the top seed in the upcoming Region VI tournament.

The win improves the No. 5 ranked Cougars to 25-3 overall and 12-2 in the West while Butler falls to 15-13 and 5-9.

Highlights
It was Barton County Sports Hall of Fame night at the contest with five new members being inducted into the Hall, including the school's all-time leading rebounder Mark Hutton and the winningest all-time coach Dan McGovern.

The Cougars struggled out of the gates, playing without starting point guard Randy Pulley as well as two more reserves. But the Cougars were able to take a 26-23 lead to halftime. To start the second half, Barton bolted out to a 35-23 advantage and led comfortably most of the second half. But the Grizzlies cut the margin to 3 and had the ball late in regulation, but could not tie the game. Butler did get the margin as low a 1 point in the final minute but the Cougars hit their free throws down the stretch for the win.

Rodney Epperson led Barton with 18 points, followed by Justin Rose with 14 and Mauricio Branwell added 12 off the bench. Nouha Diakite just missed a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
The Cougars conclude a 3-game home stand Wednesday when Cloud County pays a visit to the Barton County Gym for an 8 p.m. tip. A win will clinch the Jayhawk West title for Barton. The Cougars finish the regular season on the road Saturday at Dodge City.

-30-

Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports