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Broncbusters collapse late, fall to Barton County 85-68
Published 2/12/2009 in Sports : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
GREAT BEND — When the Garden City Community College men's team played Barton County on Jan. 14 at Perryman Athletic Complex, the Cougars won in overtime.
On Wednesday, in the middle of a tight battle which showed a tie on the scoreboard with 10:46 left, the Broncbusters and Cougars were well on their way to a possible overtime or down to the wire type finish. That is, until Barton County (23-3, 10-2) pulled away and left Garden City in the dust on its way to an 85-68 Jayhawk Conference Western Division win.
"I don't want to say we were fatigued, but that's kind of what it looked like," GCCC freshman point guard Bobby Wesley said of the final 10 minutes. "We couldn't keep anyone in front of us. Basically (Barton County) got want they wanted."
Garden City (16-9, 6-5) had fended off any charge the Cougars had made at them in the first 30 minutes of the game. But it was down the stretch that any composure the Busters had been able to maintain was lost. And Barton County made them pay for it.
"I've seen it before," GCCC head coach Kris Baumann said of his teams collapse in the final 10 minutes. "We can't close games and (Barton County) can. I think they're very, very good. They're well coached and I think they play it the right way, I really do."
Baumann's explanation of his own team and Barton County's ability down the stretch couldn't have been any more examined than the final 10 minutes. The No. 9 ranked Cougars simply stuck it to a Busters team that is in sole possession of third-place in the conference.
A Josh Martin layup tied the game at 51 for Barton County, then the Busters' Trevor Ottley put Garden City up by two with a layup. He would then give his team a 54-53 lead with one free throw 58 seconds later. Cornelius Brown followed with two free throws for Barton County, and the Busters never led again. The Cougars scored 10-straight points before Wesley hit a free throw at the 5:41 mark to end the run.
Wesley's free throw, his first and only point of the second half — after he scored 11 in the first 20 minutes — didn't stop the Cougars' momentum much. The closest Garden City got was 66-60 on a three-point sequence that Ottley finished with a free throw.
"The biggest thing is I just don't think we executed the game plan," Baumann said. "I thought we had a great opportunity when we were up by nine with two or three minutes left in the first half. I really wanted to keep it at seven or eight going into half. They got it within five going into half and so I thought they had some momentum going into the second half."
Before the Cougars' late run in the first half, Garden City had dominated with a blistering 59.3 percent shooting performance. The Busters finished at 44.1 percent for the game. Much of Barton County's second half success was due to closing down on the Busters' main scoring threats.
Richard Thomas, who has been Garden City's leading scorer for much of the last four games, was never a factor. The 6-foot-5 sophomore forward had just two points on one-of-eight shooting. Ottley was the only Buster to be a consistent scorer in the second half as he finished with 16 overall.
Thomas Manzano was the leading scorer for Garden City with 21, much of his production happened before half.
"Rich got into a little bit of foul trouble and he only played like six minutes in the first half, so he couldn't really get going," Wesley said. "He's a big part of our team, especially on offense. He didn't really get going, and no one else really stepped it up."
Martin led a group of five Cougars in double-figure scoring as he had 19. Nyika Williams had a double-double, 16 points, 15 rebounds. He was followed by Corey Bingham with 13, Chip Steven scored 11 and Taaj Ridley added 10.
The Busters, outrebounded by Barton County 46-30, will be back at home against Colby on Saturday. The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
Barton County 85, GCCC 68
GCCC (16-9, 6-5) -- Wesley 4-8 4-6 12, Manzano 8-13 4-4 21, Davis 3-6 0-1 6, Thomas 1-8 0-0 2, Ottley 6-9 4-7 16, Anderson 1-5 0-0 3, Stephens 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-4 2-2 2. Burley 1-4 0-0 2, Jackson 2-2 0-0 4. Totals -- 26-59 14-20 68.
BARTON CO. (23-3, 10-2) -- Martin 7-11 4-7 19, Bingham 3-9 7-7 13, Williams 6-9 4-7 16, Simmon 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 2-7 3-6 7, Ridley 3-10 4-5 10, Morrow 0-1 0-0 0, Steven 3-7 3-4 11, Butler 4-7 1-5 9, Schneider 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 0-1 0-0 0. Totals -- 28-62 26-41 85.
Halftime -- GCCC 38-33. Rebounds - GCCC 33 (Manzano 6); Barton 46 (Williams 15). Fouled out - GCCC, Williams. Assists -- GCCC 14 (Wesley 8); Barton 14 (Bingham 7). Blocks -- GCCC 4 (Four with one); Barton 2 (Bingham, Williams 1). Steals -- GCCC 8 (Wesley 4); Barton 9 (Four with 2). Turnovers -- GCCC 18, Barton 16.
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