Cougars finally pick up 1st road win with victory at Colby
The Barton Community College men's basketball team earned its 1st road win of the season Wednesday night with a victory at Colby. The Cougars earned the Jayhawk West road win with a 64-51 win at the Community Building, stopping a 3-game losing skid. Barton is now 13-8 overall on the season and 3-4 in the West. The Trojans fell to 6-16 overall and 0-8 in the West. Barton will wrap up its 1st trip through the conference with a home date Saturday against Pratt. The Beavers will bring a 15-6 overall record to the contest including a 4-3 mark in the West.
Highlights
The game was a sluggish affair for most of the night as Barton shot just 40 percent from the floor and Colby just 33 percent. The exception was a 6-minute stretch that started midway through the 2nd half when the Cougars were explosive on offense. An 8-of-12 effort from the field during that 6-minute stretch of basketball proved to be the difference in the contest.
Neither team shot better than 36 percent in the opening half as Barton plodded its way to a 24-21 lead at intermission. The Cougars hit just 9-of-25 shots in the half, including a 3-of-12 effort behind the 3-point line. Colby hit similar numbers including a 2-for-12 effort on 3's. The opening 5 minutes of play in the 2nd half saw each team score just 2 points before the Cougars gave a quick flash of what was to come a little later in the half. Barton pushed the lead to 32-23 on the back of Colin Beatty reeling off 6 straight points in the paint. Colby, though, scored the next 6 points to close the gap to 32-29 with 11 minutes to play in the game.
That is when the Cougars took over. A put-back by Beatty pushed the lead to 5 before Colby cut it to 4 on a free throw. Barton followed with a 16-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Beatty continued his scoring streak for Barton, knocking down a 3-pointer and adding a jumper to give Barton a 39-30 lead. It also capped a stretch of 13 straight points by the freshman. But it didn't stop there for the Cougars. Dennan Morrow knocked down a 3-pointer and the Cougars followed with 8 straight points in the paint – 4 each from Ronald Baker and Kevin Smith – for a 50-30 lead with 5 minutes to play in the contest.
Colby trimmed the lead to just 8 with 2 minutes to play but Barton hit 8-of-11 free throws in the final 2 minutes to secure the win. Barton was led by Beatty with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Beatty also had 5 assists and 5 blocks. Joe Reid added a double-double as well in the contest with 14 points and 11 boards. Ebenezer Davis finished with 10. Colby put 3 players in double figures as well led by Aireus Stephenson with 14. The Trojans continued their shooting woes in the 2nd half and hit just 3-of-26 3-pointers in the contest.
Barton has a big game at home Saturday as Pratt comes to the Barton Gym for the 8 pm tip. The Cougars are currently sitting in one game behind Pratt and Dodge City for 4th in the West.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Jan 30 – v Pratt 8 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)
-30-
Check out Barton Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports