Opening up the Jayhawk Conference with two victories on the road the Barton Community College men’s basketball team made it a perfect three game start to Jayhawk play with a 75-65 victory over Cowley College Saturday night at the Barton Gym. The Cougars led for the final thirty-two minutes building an eighteen point second half lead to earn its fourth straight victory. The win improves Barton to 3-0 in Jayhawk play and 11-3 on the season going into the holiday break while Cowley drops to 1-3 in conference play and 9-6 on the season. The Cougars’ next game will come Saturday, January 2, at Allen County Community College with its next home game arriving Wednesday, January 6, as Barton hosts Independence Community College.
With Keith Mack and Derek Dorn knocking down the only Barton treys in the game with each coming for the Cougars’ first six points, Barton used an attacking offensive to offset the 13-of-26 long ball shooting of the Tigers.
Barton erased an early two point deficit holding the Tigers to a lone free throw going on a 10-1 spurt to grab command during the course of the next seven minutes. Atir Cherne got the Tigers to within four but the Cougars in part to 13-of-15 first half free throw shooting led at the break 43-29.
A 7-0 run by the Cougars early in the second frame built its biggest lead at eighteen but 7-of-14 second half shooting behind the arc kept the Tigers within striking distance. Barton kept the gates closed at the ten point mark preventing any big surge of momentum while also controlling the boards to secure the win.
Mack’s ninth double-digit scoring output in his eleven games led the Cougars with twenty one points. Cooling off from a hot start to the season, Ezekiel Charles reached double figures for only the second time in four games with a solid sixteen point seven rebound performance. Sinking 9-of-11 from the free throw line, Dorn added fourteen points and a team leading five assist against only one turnover in thirty nine minutes against the Tiger pressure defense. Anthony Smith led the 39-29 Barton rebound edge tying a career high ten rebounds.
Also with three players in double-digit scoring, the Tiger’s Terell Gandy led the way with sixteen points while Pedro Da Silva and Jamon Fulton added eleven and ten respectively. Silva and Mason Loewen tied for team high rebound honors with seven with Loewen dishing out a team high four assists
