OVERLAND PARK – The only 3-pointer of the night for the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team turned out to be pretty important.
Down three points to Johnson County with 7 seconds remaining in regulation, All-American Kadeem Allen drained a guarded 26-foot 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining to force overtime. Then HCC was 6 of 6 shooting in the extra session to escape a major upset bid by defeating the Cavaliers 87-81 on Tuesday night at the Cavalier Fieldhouse.
Allen scored a career-high 35 points to lead the fourth-ranked Blue Dragons (4-0). He had 16 points in the second half alone, but none bigger than the 3-pointer that tied the game at the end of regulation.
Johnson County (1-3) rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit and trailed by as many as eight points with just under 14 minutes to play in the second half. Led by the 30-point effort of Pat Jones, the Cavaliers whittled away at the Dragon lead and eventually built a 74-71 lead with 12 seconds to go after two Jones free throws.
After a timeout, Allen took the inbounds pass and went down the right sideline, picking up a huge screen from Austin Budke near half-court to create some space. With another Cavalier defender rotating to pick him up and getting a hand in his face, Allen calmly drilled a 26-foot 3-pointer to tie the game. Johnson County got off desperation half-court shot at the buzzer that was just short.
After four combined turnovers in a first frantic 30 seconds of overtime, the Blue Dragons scored the first six points of the extra session – a Budke point-blank shot from a DeShawn Freeman assist, a Darrick Wood steal and dunk and a Coreante DeBerry inside hoop from a Wood assist – to lead 80-74 with 3:23 remaining in overtime. Hutchinson was 6 of 6 shooting in overtime, while Johnson County was 2 for 8.
HCC outscored Johnson County 13-7 in overtime.
Allen, who had his third career 30-point game, was 14 of 27 shooting overall and 6 of 12 from the free-throw line. Allen added eight rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Blue Dragons.
DeBerry finished with a season-high 15 points on 5 of 5 shooting, including two thunderous dunks. Sophomore Tafari Whitingham posted his first double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons shot 49.2 percent for the game (32 of 65), going 1 of 5 from 3-point range and 22 of 39 from the free-throw line. HCC was out-rebounded 49-48 and gave up 21 offensive rebounds. The Dragons committed 12 turnovers.
Jones was 9 of 24 overall for his 30-point effort, going 3 of 10 from 3-point range and 9 of 10 from the foul line. Arvaughn Baker finished with 11 points and BiQuavious Sturgis finished with 10 points.
The Cavaliers shot 36.6 percent overall (30 of 82), hitting 6 of 32 from 3-point range and 15 of 20 from the foul line. Johnson County had 14 turnovers. After shooting just 27 percent in the first half, Johnson County sparked its second-half comeback by shooting 48.6 percent in the final 20 minutes.
Hutchinson looked to be taking control when leading just 16-15 with 10:25 to play; the Blue Dragons went on a 9-0 run over the next 6 minutes to lead 25-15 with 4:34 to play after an Allen free throw. Johnson County countered with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 27-27 with 2:39 left in the half on Baker jumper. Allen hit back-to-back jumpers for HCC to take a 31-29 lead at halftime.
An emphatic DeBerry dunk with 13:56 to play in the second half gave HCC a 45-37 lead. Johnson County fought back to take a 51-50 lead with 8:50 remaining in the game after Sturgis basket. There were four lead changes and 10 ties from that point.
The Dragons took a 71-69 lead with 57 seconds left on a Wood basket. Jones then hit a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound to take a 72-71 lead and then Jones sank a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to put the Cavaliers up 74-71, setting up Allen’s 3-pointer to force overtime.
The Blue Dragons will play Redlands and NEO this weekend at the Sports Arena.
(HCC Sports Information)