The 15th-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team compensated for a minus-12 rebounding performance by forcing Missouri State University-West Plains into a season-high 23 turnovers and defeated the Grizzlies 71-62 on Thursday at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson is 7-0 to start a season for the 17th time in team history. After seven games in 14 days, the Blue Dragons won’t play for eight days when Central Nebraska and Murray State come to the Sports Arena on Nov. 25-26 for the Ramada Thanksgiving Classic.
The Blue Dragons were out-rebounded for the third-straight game, this time 42-30. At one point HCC was a minus-16 rebounding to the Grizzlies. West Plains (4-2) scored 27 second-chance points.
“Our defense was forcing turnovers,” said HCC head coach Steve Eck, who won his 60th game with the Blue Dragons. “We were outscored 27-11 in second-chance points, but we outscored them 24-11 in points off turnovers. We went small and played some good defense.”
But the Dragons made up from that by a stifling defense that forced 23 turnovers – 13 more than West Plains’ season average – and produced 24 points off those turnovers. HCC also held the Grizzlies, a 48-percent 3-point shooting team to 0 of 14 from long range.
Sophomore Mark Braden had a huge all-around game to lead HCC, scoring a game-high 18 points with five rebounds, a season-high five steals and three assists.
Freshman A.J. Spencer came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points with four boards and two assists. Freshman Anthony Thomas had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Blue Dragons shot better than 50 percent for the fourth time in seven games, shooting 50.9 percent against the Grizzlies (27 of 53), including 57.7 percent (15 of 26) in the second half. The Dragons were 2 of 9 from 3-point range and 15 of 26 from the foul line.
Gage Wooten had a double-double to lead West Plains with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Marin Petric had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Grizzlies, a 2011 NJCAA Tournament participant, shot 41.7 percent (25 of 60) overall and were 112 of 19 from the foul line.
“I thought we kind of sped them up,” Spencer said. “We did a good job of pressuring them. We gave up some rebounds, but we pressured them and we were giving the ball up and being unselfish.”
The Blue Dragons were sluggish against the fifth-ranked defensive team in the NJCAA after two weeks falling behind 6-0. HCC didn’t score its first points until the 16:13 mark of the opening half. Trailing 8-2, HCC scored six straight points to tie the game at 8-all with 12:33 to play on a Michael Spease jumper.
HCC limited West Plains to 36.7 percent shooting in the first half (12 of 27) and took the lead for good with 7:02 to play on a Thomas 3-pointer for a 17-15 lead. A Braden layup pushed HCC’s lead to a first-half high of five at 26-21 with 3:08 to play. The Dragons led 29-26 at halftime.
A Braden dunk capped a 6-0 run to lead 37-28 with 17:58 play, but West Plains answered with an 8-0 run to pull the Grizzlies within one point at 37-36 with 15:29 to play in the half.
“We had to be really disciplined,” Braden said. “We pushed the ball because they are a slow-paced team. We had to be really disciplined against them.”
The Dragons never relinquished the lead in the second half. Two Petric free throws with 12:55 to play tied the game at 43-all, but a Ryan Schultz bucket on the next Dragon possession gave Hutchinson the lead for good.
Hutchinson masterfully worked the clock down the stretch, scoring with less than 5 seconds remaining on three possessions in the final five minutes to pull away from West Plains. The Dragons outscored the Grizzlies 13-6 over the final 5 minutes, 27 seconds of the game.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons had season highs of 15 steals and six blocked shots. … This was HCC victory No. 1,579. … Steve Eck is now 60-13 at Hutchinson in two-plus seasons. … Freshman Alex Davis had a season-high four blocked shots. … HCC’s bench outscored West Plains 24-17.
(By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director)