STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GREAT BEND – Overtime has not been good to the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team in 2020.
With 3:48 to play in overtime on Wednesday at Barton, the Dragons trailed the Cougars by four points. But five-straight Hutch points – a Jaden Okon putback and a D.J. Mitchell 3-pointer – gave new life to the Blue Dragons, which finally prevailed in overtime for the first time in four chances this season.
Josh Baker scored nine points and Mitchell added five in overtime along to power the Blue Dragons to a 96-91 victory over the Cougars.
The Blue Dragons, now 21-8 overall, 12-8 Jayhawk West, clinch a home game for the opening-round of the Region VI Tournament that begins next Wednesday. The victory also avenges a 102-95 overtime loss to the Cougars at the Sports Arena on January 29.
Just like that January 29 meeting, Barton had to come up with some last-second heroics to force overtime.
After a Baker completed a three-point play with 36.2 seconds to play in regulation gave the Dragons a 76-73 lead, Barton's Diovante Caldwell tied the game with 10.5 seconds left by hitting three free throws after being fouled. Once in overtime, Barton led 83-79 after a Jaheim Holden layup with 3:48 remaining.
Needing a spark to turn the momentum, Okon provided that with a hustle play to battle for and grab an offensive rebound. He scored on the follow with 3:36 to play. After a Barton turnover, Mitchell buried a 3-pointer with 2:59 left for a 5-0 Hutch run and an 85-84 lead.
The lead changed hands three more times and was tied at 91 with 33 seconds remaining. Still tied with 9.0 seconds left, Baker made the second of two free throws for a 92-91 lead. Barton immediately pushed the ball up the floor and Caldwell was whistled for an offensive foul with 3.0 seconds remaining. Seconds after that, at technical foul was assessed to the Barton bench. Tyler Brown it two free throws for a 94-91 lead. Mitchell was fouled and added two more free throws with 2 seconds left for a 96-91 lead.
Hutchinson outscored Barton 20-15 in overtime hitting 6 of 10 shots and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Mitchell led the Blue Dragons with 19 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the Blue Dragons. Baker had 18 points and a career-high eight assists. Tyler Brown and Majok Kuath finished with 13 points each and Josh Ursery had 12 points.
The Blue Dragons shot 54.4 percent for the game (37 of 68, going 7 of 18 from 3-point range and 15 of 22 from the foul line. The Dragons had to overcome 24 turnovers and a 40-38 Barton rebound advantage.
Anthony Atkinson-Enneking had 20 points to lead Barton. Keandre Bowles and Mavrick Gildyard had 18 points each. The Cougars shot 43.7 percent (31 of 71, going 7 of 14 from 3-point range and 22 of 32 from the foul line. Barton had 22 turnovers.
Both teams had to made significant comebacks in regulation.
An Ursery 3-pointer capped a 14-3 Dragon run in the first half that gave Hutchinson a 26-14 lead with 7:48 to play. Still leading by nine points with 1:12 to play in the half, Hutch was outscored 7-0 to close the half. Holden's layup with 2 seconds remaining cut the Dragon lead to 40-38 at halftime.
Barton finally grabbed its first lead of the second half with 14:52 to go and built leads as large as five twice. Trailing 54-49 with a little more than 11 minutes to play, a Mitchell 3-point shot capped an 8-3 run to give the Dragons a 57-56 lead with 9:37 remaining in regulation.
From that point, there were four lead changes and four ties down the stretch.
The Blue Dragons will play host to Seward County at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the 2020 regular-season finale.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 1-3 in overtime games this season and are 21-6 in overtime in the Steve Eck era. … The Dragons are now 88-28 all-time against Barton, 34-13 in Great Bend and 4-2 in overtime. … This was the first time in series history that both regular-season meetings went to overtime. … D.J. Mitchell is now alone in seventh place on the Blue Dragon career 3-point list with 113. … The 37 made field goals tied a season high for the Dragons. … The Blue Dragons finished 5-5 in true road games this season. … This was the 15th time this season that the Blue Dragons scored at least 90 points and it was the 17th time that Hutch shot 50 percent or better in a game.