SALINA, Kan. — For the first half of action Saturday night in Salina, the No. 4 Dodge City Conquistadors (29-4) were in control.
After No. 21 Hutchinson (25-8) scored the first basket of the game, it was all Conqs as Dodge City built a 45-36 halftime lead.
Hutchinson made just 2 of 10 three-point attempts as Themus Fulks went to work with 15 first-half points for Dodge City. Seven of the 15 came from the free-throw line.
Dodge City's big man, 6-foot-9 forward Nick Pringle (who averaged 15 points and 19.5 rebounds against the Dragons this year), got in foul trouble early and played less than six minutes of the first half. He went to the bench with 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Angelo Stuart struggled from distance early (0-3), one night after going 1 of 6 against Butler. That would change in the second half.
Down nine, Hutchinson made only two of its first 10 shots in the second half while Dodge City went 5 of 7. The Conquistador lead swelled to 11 before Hutchinson got on a roll off back-to-back baskets.
Stuart hit a three-pointer with 13:15 left in regulation to pull Hutchinson within two.
At halftime, the lead had only changed once. By the end of the contest, the lead would change 13 times and feature seven ties.
The lead changed five times in less than two minutes as the teams went back and forth after a Cecil Lee triple with 5:30 remaining.
Stuart caught fire and made 6 of his 8 three-point attempts in the final 25 minutes.
Hutchinson took an 82-80 lead with 2:18 left before Kalen Williams hit one of his three triples to take the lead back for Dodge City at 83-82.
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line. Hutchinson finished at 69.7% while Dodge City made only 56.4%.
Jacquez Yow took the lead back for Hutchinson with 54 seconds left. Pringle answered by making one of his two free throws to tie the game at 84 with 29.3 seconds left.
With the shot clock dark, Hutchinson could play for the final shot of regulation.
With time expiring, Lennox fired up a long three. The airball was immediately taken by Dodge City and pushed up the floor. Pringle scored on a layup, but officials immediately waved off the basket. A replay review confirmed Pringle still had the ball in his hand as the buzzer sounded.
The game went into overtime 84-all.
Stuart nailed another three to give Hutchinson an 87-86 advantage with 4:13 left in the extra frame.
The back-and-forth continued as Stuart needed another three to tie the game at 90. His sixth triple tied his career high for a single game.
The game would tie again at 92, 94 and 96.
Fulks already had 33 points (13 from the free-throw line), but Hutchinson needed to stop him one more time.
With time running out in OT, Fulks nearly had the ball stripped away by Nate Goodlow. Goodlow poked the ball free as it rolled toward the half-court line. Goodlow looked poised to scoop the ball and race the other way with eight seconds left.
Just as he went for the gather, Fulks somehow got the ball back. Fulks was already on the ground, but managed to snag the ball while sitting on the court.
The rest of the Dragons were ready to run the fast break, thinking Goodlow had a sure steal and a chance at the winning basket.
The quick recovery by Fulks had Hutchinson off-guard as no one was deep enough to cover Kerwin Prince.
Prince was waiting in the paint as Fulks desperately looked for someone while seated near half court.
The chest pass would have been hard enough while standing with both feet on the ground. Fulks managed to fire the perfect pass while sitting on the floor. Prince turned around and scored with 0.6 seconds left.
The Dragons drew up an inbound that went to Lennox. His three-quarter court shot never got close.
FINAL: Dodge City 98 Hutchinson 96 OT
The Conqs scored 62 points in the paint.
DCCC shot 54.5% for the game to Hutchinson's 42.7%.
Stuart finished with 34 points.
Yow scored 17, Lennox 15 and Goodlow 10.
The Dragons were without Kobe Campbell Saturday night after he sustained an injury against Butler Friday. Campbell averaged 14 points per game this season.
The Dragons are 0-3 against Dodge City this year, but have lost by an average of only four points.
Prince finished with 14 points off the bench. The Conqs got their most productive night from the bench in the three-game series.
Williams finished with 16 points while Pringle fouled out and just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Dodge City will play in Hutchinson for the national tournament (March 14-19) while the Dragons will see if they can secure an at-large bid in the NJCAA selection show Sunday night.
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