The Barton Community College men's basketball team got off to strong start Saturday afternoon on the road but needed a 9-0 spurt midway in the second half in holding on for a 74-68 victory at the Beaver Dome.
The Cougars scored the opening seven points grabbing a lead they'd only relinquish once before the midway point of the second half. Leading 32-30 at the break, Barton's lead would slip following a 6-0 Beaver run at the 13:34 mark before a 9-0 response furnished the lead back to the Cougars for good opening up an eventual 12-point advantage a trio of times.
Sweeping the season series, the victory also lays to rest a three-game losing streak inside the Beaver Dome as Barton remains in a two-way tie with Garden City for fourth place at 12-7 and 17-8 overall, while Pratt remains in fifth place at 11-8 and 14-10 on the season.
The Cougars will open a two-game homestead Wednesday night welcoming in 16th ranked Butler Community College for a 7:30 p.m. start time. The Grizzlies, who beat the Cougars 56-49 on their home floor, sit third in the conference at 14-6 and 20-6 overall.
Barton was led by Cougar Downing and Aime Rutayisire each combining for 17 points apiece. Downing hit a trio of treys including a pick of the pocket fast break triple during Barton's key 9-0 run in the second half despite snapping his string of four straight games over the 20-point mark. Making his seventh straight start, Rutayisire added 11 of his 17 in the second half tying his career high output for the second time while sharing team honors with seven rebounds. Hannes Saar and Mozae Downing-Rivers put together solid all-around team efforts sharing distribution honors with four assists each. Saar added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and collected six rebounds while Downing-Rivers rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points and pulling down seven boards.
Cooper Jackson, the nation's steals leader, added two more thefts picking the Beavers twice while finishing with eighth points and hauling down seven rebounds.
Pratt was led by Sterling Young's 18 points while Jaylen Davis posted the lone double-double performance adding 16 points and corralled a game high 12 rebounds. Chidiebere Obichere rounded out the double figure scoring for the Beavers add 13 and finishing one rebound shy of a double-double performance.
Barton jetted out just 1:25 in as buckets by Jackson and Rutayisire mixed between a Downing long-distance splash built up a 7-0 lead. Remaining out front for the next three minutes, the Cougars ballooned the advantage to its' largest of the opening half behind back-to-back Saar and Joseph Locando triples holding a 15-7 lead at the first media timeout.
Chipping away, Pratt would close to within a pair twice before tying it up at 23-23 with 4:29 left but a Downing-Rivers triple Barton's fourth of their five made in the opening half jumpstarted a 9-2 stretch fueled on the backend of a personal 5-0 Christian Bowen-Webb run growing the lead back to seven, 32-25 with 1:51 in the opening stanza.
The Beavers seized all momentum into the locker room scoring the final five points of the opening frame cutting the Cougars lead to 32-30.
Scoring the opening four points of the second half on buckets from Rutayisire and Downing-Rivers, the six point lead would fade with Pratt outscoring the Cougars 9-4 over the next five minutes including a 6-0 stretch providing Pratt its' first lead 42-40 with 13:34 to play.
Held without a field goal over a four-minute stretch a Jackson and Saar jumper gave Barton the lead back 44-42, with the Beavers tying it up one more time on the next possession with 11:18 left.
Defensive pressure and running in transition quickly swung the momentum in favor of the Cougars as an old fashion And-1 by Rutayisire and layup on the back end ignited a 9-0 run handed Barton a 53-44 lead with 8:54 remaining.
Four points was as close as Pratt would come the rest of the night as a personal 5-0 Downing run two-minutes later highlighted by a deep splashing ended Barton's 0-for-6 start to the second half from outside pressing the lead back to nine. Ensuing a Beaver basket, Saar's second triple of the night and Jackson's steal and layup at the other end provided Barton its' largest lead of 12 with 5:14 to play.
Barton kept the lead at double-digits for the next three minutes with Pratt clawing back pulling within six on a trio of times in the final minutes but perfect trips at the charity stripe by Jackson and Downing in the final 32-seconds sealed the season sweep.