The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team opened its 81st season with their 62nd opening night victory, dominating Fort Scott 83-40 on the first night of the Quarterback Classic Thursday night at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson is now 62-19 in season openers, winning on opening night for the fourth-straight time and for the 15th time in the last 16 season openers. The Blue Dragons routed Fort Scott for the second-straight time on opening night. Last season, HCC downed the Greyhounds 80-48.
HCC has now won 11 straight over Fort Scott and 24 of the last 25 meetings dating back to 1970.
Leading just 30-17 at halftime, the Blue Dragons rolled in the second half, shooting 61.3 percent (19 of 31) in outscoring Fort Scott 53-23.
“We lost our rhythm in the first half and let down defensively a little,” HCC head coach Steve Eck said. “Second half, we played better defense and got more aggressive. We came out tonight and did a pretty good job on defense.”
Sophomore Mark Braden led all scorers with 15 points, while A.J. Spencer had 11 points and eight assists to lead Hutchinson (1-0). Jack Pyle and Alex Davis had nine points each in a balanced scoring attack.
After shooting just over 40 percent in the second half, the Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 50.8 percent (32 of 63), including 6 of 21 from 3-point range. The Blue Dragons were 13 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Dragons turned the ball over only 12 times and out-rebounded Fort Scott 44-25. Kesse Bernard led with seven boards.
“We played very hard like we wanted it,” said Braden, HCC’s only returning starter from last season. “We kept playing hard. This is our house and we don’t want to lose here.”
The Greyhounds, which trailed 16-5 just 10 minutes into the game, just 27.7 percent (13 of 47) and were limited to 6 of 26 shooting in the second half. Fort Scott turned the ball over 22 times to HCC’s 12.
Tony McGilveary had 12 points and Teance Walton had 10 for Fort Scott.
HCC led 26-12 with 3:43 to go in the first half, but couldn’t extend the lead any further. Hutchinson’s halftime lead was 30-17. The Blue Dragons took care of business right from the start in the second half, scoring the first nine points of the half to push the game to its first 20-point margin.
“The guys were prepared to play,” Spencer said. “We came out in the first half and set the tone with intensity.”
The Blue Dragons will now play Parkland College. Parkland, the No. 5 preseason team in NJCAA Division II, defeated Central Florida 73-70 on Thursday night. HCC and Parkland will play at 7:30 p.m., while Central Florida and Fort Scott will play at 3:30 p.m.
(By Steve Carpenter/HCC Sports Information Director)