The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team closed out a stretch of six games in 10 days with a very impressive final 10 minutes on Saturday night against the Marshalltown Tigers.
The Blue Dragons fended off a strong Marshalltown challenge, holding the Tigers without a field goal for the final 5 minutes, 2 seconds en route to an 82-67 victory in the final game of the Hutchinson Clinic Classic at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson (6-0) led 57-55 with 9:52 remaining in the game and proceeded to outscore the Marshalltown (3-2) 25-12 for the remainder of the game. Marshalltown’s last field goal came at the 5:02 mark by Sherman Blanford, which cut the HCC lead to 70-63. But the Blue Dragons executed well down the stretch on both ends, holding the Tigers to just four free throws down the stretch.
Leading the defensive resistance was sophomore Ryan Schultz, who took four charges during the game.
“I just try to come to practice every day and work hard,” said Schultz, who had a solid all-around game with seven points, six rebounds and three assists. “I try to find ways to make a difference. Last year, I tried to keep my teammates positive, but this year, it’s maybe guarding a big guy, getting a rebound or taking a charge.”
“That’s bad defense, and good help-side defense,” HCC coach Steve Eck said. “That’s what Ryan needs to do. I’ve been telling him he needs to get tough for us. I’ve been harping on him to take more charges.”
The Blue Dragons shot a season-high 60 percent for the game (30 of 50), hitting their first seven shots of the contest. HCC shot 68 percent in the first half. The Dragons knocked down 9 of 17 from 3-point range, but only 13 of 27 from the free-throw line.
Freshman Anthony Thomas was 9 of 11 shooting from the field to score a game- and season-high 23 points to lead Hutchinson. Thomas also had eight rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
A.J. Spencer came off the bench to score 15 points. Michael Spease knocked down a season-high three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Jack Pyle came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points, hitting two crucial 3-point goals.
“All the reserves want to play more minutes,” Eck said. “Jack played crucial minutes tonight, which are bigger than regular minutes. He’s been in the game late the last three games, which shows I have confidence in him.”
The Blue Dragons were outrebounded for the second-straight night, 40-37 and turned the ball over 14 times. But HCC had a season-high 22 assists on 30 makes.
Marshalltown’s Marcus Bell closed out an outstanding weekend of work with a double-double, posting 20 points and 16 rebounds. Rashaad Brown had 19 points and Blanford had 10 points.
Marshalltown shot 35.4 percent from the field (23 of 65), including 3 of 12 from 3-point range and 18 of 30 from the foul line. The Tigers committed only eight turnovers.
The Blue Dragons quickly doubled a five-point lead with a Spease 3-pointer and a Thomas drive to the hoop to lead 21-11 with 10:29 to play in the opening half. Marshalltown quickly scored six straight points to close the gap and got it down to three twice, the second after a Brown three-point play trimmed the HCC lead to 33-30 with 1:52 remaining in the opening half.
The Dragons withstood that run and countered with a Pyle 3-pointer and two Spencer free throws to carry a 42-36 lead into halftime.
Hutchinson opened the second half on a 13-6 run over the first 5:35 of the half and led 55-42 on a Spease 3-pointer with 14:25 to play. The Blue Dragons then went scoreless for the next 4 minutes, 11 seconds and Marshalltown answered with an 11-0 run to pull within 55-53 on two Bell free throws with 10:56 to go.
Leading 57-55, the Blue Dragons started their final push with back-to-back Spencer back-door layups from Thomas feeds to go up 61-55. A Bell dunk cut the Dragon lead to 67-61, but Bell was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Pyle hit 1 of 2 free throws and then a Thomas dunk securely grabbed momentum for the Dragons, who led 70-61.
Marshalltown scored the next four points, but the Dragons finished the game with a 7-0 run – a Thomas 3-pointer, a Spencer basket from a Schultz assist and another Thomas bucket – gave Hutch a 77-65 lead with 2:08 to play in the game.
The Blue Dragons will take on 2011 NJCAA Tournament participant Missouri State University-West Plains at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Sports Arena.