HUTCHINSON, Ks – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team saw a 16-game Quarterback Classic winning streak come to an end as Labette upset the No. 22-ranked Blue Dragons 87-77 on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.
Playing without leading scorer DeShawn Freeman, who was injured late in Friday’s season-opening victory against Trinidad State, the Blue Dragons battled from behind all night and couldn’t overcome the 35-point effort by the Cardinals’ Tevin Foster.
Foster was 8 of 14 shooting, but knocked down 5 of 8 from 3-point range to continually frustrate the Blue Dragons. Labette (2-0) also forced 19 Hutchinson turnovers and converted those into 29 points.
Labette snapped a 13-game losing streak to Hutchinson by also hitting 10 of 21 3-point field-goal attempts. The Blue Dragons once again struggled from long range, hitting only 2 of 16.
Sophomore Austin Budke led the Blue Dragons with a career-high 23 points, hitting 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. He tied a career high with eight rebounds in 35 minutes.
Freshman Bashier Ahmed posted his second-straight double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three steals and two blocked shots.
Che Bob was the third Blue Dragon in double figures with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Zach Winter and Akbar Hoffman had six points each.
The Blue Dragons (1-1) shot 44.3 percent overall (27 of 61). HCC hit 21 of 32 from the foul line. The Blue Dragons had a huge rebounding advantage on the Cardinals, including 19 offensive rebounds.
Labette shot 46.2 percent overall (24 of 52) and 29 of 38 from the free-throw line. The Cardinals were 14 of 18 from the foul line in the second half.
Also scoring in double figures for Labette was Jariun Nelson with 15 and Walter Sorrels with 14.
Foster had 13 points in the game’s first 9-plus minutes as Labette built a 27-22 lead with 10:54 to play in the opening half.
HCC fought back to tie the game on a Bob 3-pointer and Ahmed transition hoop to knot the game at 27-all with 8:36 to play. That was in the midst of Hutchinson’s defense holding Labette to just one field goal over a stretch of 7 minutes, 5 seconds. A Budke layup gave HCC a 35-31 lead with 6:13 to play. Labette stayed in the game at the foul line, hitting 10 of 15 from the line in the half and 10 of 11 during the Cardinals field-goal drought.
An 8-1 Hutchinson run helped build a 43-37 lead with 1:31 to play after a Bob layup, but Foster made a huge 3-poiter with 1:07 to go to cut the Hutch lead in half. Winter made 1 of 2 free throws for a four-point HCC lead, but Xavier Smith hit Labette’s sixth first-half 3-pointer with 27 seconds left. HCC led 44-43 at halftime.
The lead changed hands five times in the first six minutes of the half. A Budke layup with 15:44 to play in the 2nd half gave HCC a 54-53 lead. Labette then took the lead for good 90 seconds later on a Sorrels field goal with 14:16 to play. That was the first of three unanswered buckets as Labette built a 59-54 lead with 12:26 to play.
Labette built a 68-60 lead with 8:33 to play. The Blue Dragons got it down to four at 71-67 after a Budke three-point play with 5:17 to play. HCC had just three field goals in the remainder of the game. Labette finished off the upset by hitting 8 of 12 free throws in the final 5 minutes of the game.
The Blue Dragons will play host to Hesston College and NEO next Friday and Saturday in the First National Bank of Hutchinson Classic at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES – The last Labette victory over Hutchinson was in 1990. … The last Labette victory over Hutchinson at the Sports Arena came in 1963. … HCC is now 28-12 all-time against Labette. … HCC had 19 turnovers for the second-straight game.
(HCC Sports Information)