Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team closes out the first round of the Jayhawk Conference's double-round-robin season on Saturday with a home matchup against the Fort Hays Tech Northwest Tigers.
After the Blue Dragons unexpected loss on Wednesday at Pratt paired with Fort Hays Tech Northwest's two-point win on Thursday at Coffeyville, Saturday's game has taken on an increased significance for both teams.
Game time for the Blue Dragons (10-7, 5-6 KJCCC) and the Tigers (9-7, 5-6 KJCCC) is at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 3:45 p.m. with Sean Boston (PBP) and Dan Naccarato (color) calling the action. The game will be exclusively streamed live and for free on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 3:45 p.m.
As the first half of league play draws to a close with Saturday's games, the standings are jumbled and tight.
Hutchinson, Barton, Cloud County and Fort Hays Tech Northwest are tied for seventh in the 13-team league with 5-6 records. Those four teams are only three games behind league leaders Seward County and Dodge City with 13 games remaining in the regular season.
The Blue Dragons look to rebound from Wednesday's 71-65 loss at Pratt. The Dragons led by as many as 16 points in the first half and seven points at halftime.
Sophomore Kyrell Shaw became the first Blue Dragons since All-American Kadeem Allen in the 2013-14 season to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games with 34 points against the Beavers on Wednesday night.
Fort Hays Tech Northwest is on a two-game winning streak after Thursday's 77-75 win at Coffeyville. The Tigers trailed by two points at halftime, but led 77-69 with 1:07 to play and had to hold the Red Ravens off. Kuet Gatwech blocked a potential game-winning Coffeyville 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Tigers average 76.4 points and shoot 40.2 percent from the floor. They are extremely balanced offensively with six players averaging 8.0 points per game or more. Marquintez Dixon leads at 14.2 points per game with Kaleel Kelly scoring 10.9 points and Gatwech at 10.3 points per game.