by Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information
The No. 15-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team used a balanced offense and stingy defense to win their fifth-straight game on Monday night.
The Blue Dragons stayed within one game of first place in the Jayhawk Conference after an 83-64 victory over Garden City in HCC’s first appearance in the Sports Arena since Jan. 20.
The Blue Dragons improve to 21-3 overall and 10-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. With Neosho County’s win over Allen on Monday, the Panthers maintain their one-game lead over the Blue Dragons with six games to play. Hutchinson travels to Dodge City at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in what will be the Blue Dragons’ third game in five days.
Sophomore guard Akbar Hoffman led four Blue Dragons in double figures with 23 points, but it was a strong defensive effort that helped Hutchinson steadily create distance from the Broncbusters. Hutchinson held a third-straight opponent to less than 40 percent shooting at 30.0 percent (18 of 60). The Blue Dragons also forced 23 Garden City turnovers.
Hoffman scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. After Garden City cut an 11-point halftime lead to seven with 13 1/2 minutes to play in the second half, Hoffman hit a pair of guarded 3-pointers to spark an 18-4 run that blew the game open for the Blue Dragons. Hoffman was 9 of 20 shooting overall, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range.
Sophomore Bashir Ahmed had 16 points for the Blue Dragons. Shakur Juiston had 15 points and four assists.
Sophomore Keanu Pinder had his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Pinder was particularly aggressive in the first half with nine points, seven boards and three steals to help stake HCC to a 39-28 lead at intermission. Pinder had career highs of six assists and four steals.
The Blue Dragons were 26 of 64 shooting (40.6 percent), hitting 6 of 19 from 3-point range and 25 of 32 from the free-throw line. Garden City out-rebounded Hutchinson 46-40. The Dragons had 17 assists, 12 steals and eight blocked shots with 13 turnovers.
J.T. Bennett had 18 points to lead Garden City (14-10, 6-7). Josh Fleming had 12 points.
The Busters had an early 8-4 lead when Pinder and Hoffman knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to grab the lead. Pinder then completed a three-point play to cap a quick 9-0 run and build a 13-8 lead with 13:03 to go in the half.
An Ahmed 3-pointer pushed the Hutchinson lead to double figures for the first time at 29-18 with 5:28 to go. That started a run of nine-straight points by Ahmed. The Dragons built a 37-25 lead with 2:02 to play in the half. James McNeal had a three-point play for Garden City with 1:06 to play, but with time running out, Juiston grabbed a long rebound and popped a 14-footer to give the Dragons a 39-28 lead at halftime. HCC shot only 36.7 percent, but held Garden City to 30 percent.
Hutchinson led 49-35, but Garden City scored seven unanswered points to pull with 49-42 after an Aaron Ray basket with 13:24 to go and force HCC to call a timeout.
The Blue Dragons got a 3-pointer from Hoffman right out of the time out. Then Samajae Haynes-Jones connected on a three-point play to start a 12-2 run to build a 67-46 lead with 10:14 to go.
Hutchinson’s defense limited Garden City to only four made field goals in the final 10 minutes as the Blue Dragons were never seriously threatened in the second half.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons scored 23 points off turnovers against the Broncbusters. … This was all-time victory No. 1,705. … HCC is 129-47 all-time against Garden City, 71-9 in games played in Hutchinson and 58-7 at the Sports Arena. … HCC won its fourth-straight game over Garden City. … HCC head coach Steve Eck earned his 185th coaching win at Hutchinson, now three wins shy of moving past Gene Keady for third on the HCC coaching list. .. HCC is 14-2 at the Sports Arena. … The Dragons are 4-1 when out-rebounded this season. … Keanu Pinder now has seven career double-doubles. … Garden City tied an opponent season-low with three 3-pointers. Garden City is the fourth opponent to have 3s. … Shakur Juiston had a season-high-tying five free throws.
(HCC Sports Information)