[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One year ago this week, the Cowley Tigers handed the then-No. 1 Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team a 113-111 triple-overtime loss that knocked the Blue Dragons from that lofty perch.
Opening the second-semester schedule against the Tigers for the second-straight year at the Sports Arena, the No. 2-ranked Blue Dragons scored 30 of the game’s first 34 points over the first 7 minutes, 50 seconds of the game and cruised to a 100-84 Jayhawk Conference victory.
The Blue Dragons improve to 14-0 overall and 10-0 in the Jayhawk Conference entering Saturday’s 4 p.m. game at Allen in Iola. The Tigers fall to 7-7 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
Playing for the first time since December 10, the Blue Dragons showed very little rust early. Leading 8-4 with 16:32 remaining in the first half. Back-to-back dunks from Shakur Juiston and J.J Rhymes started a 22-0 Blue Dragon scoring run. When Samajae Haynes-Jones converted a three-point play with 12:21 remaining in the opening half, Hutchinson led 30-4.
The Blue Dragons shot 52.6 percent in the opening half in building a game-high 28-point lead at 50-22 before leading 54-29 at halftime. The Tigers hit seven second-half 3-pointers and shot 54.5 percent in the final 20 minutes to cut the Dragon lead to as small as 10 points in the second half.
Juiston scored a career-high 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line to lead the Blue Dragons. He posted his eighth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. Juiston added six assists and four steals to his strong effort.
Only five Blue Dragons scored in the game, all five in double figures.
Haynes-Jones finished 22 points, including three 3-pointers. . Rhymes and Bandoo scored 18 points each. Bandoo added seven rebounds, while Rhymes had five boards. Sophomore James Conley kicked in 15 points.
The Blue Dragons finished shooting 50.7 percent from the floor (36 of 71), going 4 of 15 from 3-point range and 24 of 31 from the free-throw line. Hutch out-rebounded Cowley 43-38, but surrendered 18 offensive rebounds.
Kyrece Mills was 9 of 11 shooting for 18 team-high points to lead the Tigers. Mike’l Simms had 12 points on four 3-pointers. Justin Jones and Derieko Smith scored 10 each for the Tigers.
Cowley finished at 44.3 percent from the floor (35 of 79), including 10 of 28 from 3-point range and 4-9 from the free-throw line. The Tigers turned the ball over 17 times.
Five different players scored in Hutchinson’s 22-0 run in the first half. Bandoo and Juiston both converted three-point plays to help Hutch build a 19-4 lead with 13:52 to play. Back-to-back Haynes-Jones 3-point goals made it 25-4 with 13:03 to go. Haynes-Jones then completed a three-point play to build a staggering 30-4 lead with 12:21 to go in the opening half.
Cowley outscored Hutch 17-11 over the next 5 1/2 minutes to cut the Dragon lead to 41-22 with 6:56 left. Hutchinson answered with a quick 11-2 run to lead 52-24 with 1:16 left after two Rhymes free throws. Hutchinson hit 20 of 38 shots in the first half and led 54-29 at halftime.
With Hutch leading 58-33, Cowley scored nine unanswered points to cut that down to 16 points with 15:28 to go. Another 8-0 Tiger run saw the Hutch lead shrink to 78-67 with 6:17 remaining. A Brian Harness 3-pointer with 5:04 to go cut the Dragon lead to 82-72.
Hutch broke the Cowley press late to regain control of the game. The Dragons reached the 100-point mark for the fifth time this season with a Bandoo layup after breaking the press with 1:01 to play in the game.