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Busters hold off Cloud County in OT
Published 2/23/2009 in Sports : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
With a jubilant leap Garden City Community College forward Reggie Davis swung his arm.
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Brad Nading/Telegram — Garden City Community College's Thomas Manzano, right, drives the lane Saturday past Cloud County's Oleg Kovalov for a basket at Perryman Athleic Complex.
Davis could show some elation as Cloud County's Jemal Farmer knocked the ball off his leg and out of bounds with 4.2 seconds left in overtime. The Broncbusters were clinging to a one-point lead after the Thunderbirds failed to get off a shot after Richard Thomas missed a one-and-one free throw attempt with 1.7 seconds to go, giving Garden City a 60-59 Jayhawk Conference Western Division with at Perryman Athletic Complex on Saturday.
"I thought the kids gave us a gutsy performance tonight," GCCC head coach Kris Baumann said. "It wasn't pretty, but the kids showed us they have some guts."
With the regular season winding down any kind of winning performance the Busters give will do for Baumann. On Saturday it was all about holding on and preventing a win from slipping through their fingers. At the end of regulation the Garden City crowd was on the edge of its seat as Cloud County's Eric Marshall went to the free throw line with 2.4 seconds left, and the Busters holding a one-point lead. Marshall missed the first attempt, then connected on the second one. Thomas Manzano's half court heave for Garden City hit high off the backboard sending the game to an extra five minutes tied at 55. The Busters' chance to play in the extra time was a credit to the GCCC fan base that made it loud during Marshall's free throws, Manzano said.
"I think the crowd got to him," Manzano said. "I just thank the crowd because he probably would have made them both."
Before a Farmer 3-pointer put Cloud County (17-11, 6-8) ahead at 50-49 with 3:25 left in regulation, the Busters had not trailed since a 7-4 deficit early in the first half. Garden City had taken an 8-7 lead on a Richard Thomas 10-foot jumper with 15 minutes to go before halftime in the midst of a 15-0 run concluded by a Manzano hook shot in the lane.
"We beat a very good Cloud team," Baumann said. "They're tough, they're physical, and you know we beat a good team tonight."
The win is also significant in that the Busters kept the Thunderbirds from moving into a tie with GCCC for one of the top four spots from the Western Division for Region VI play. Garden City is now tied with Seward County for third and the two will meet on Wednesday in Liberal.
Before the Busters could get ahead of themselves they had to hold off a charging Cloud County that trailed by five at halftime. Farmer, an Arkansas commitment, who had just six points when the Busters beat Cloud County on Jan. 25, gave the Thunderbirds life on Saturday. His 3-pointer that put Cloud County up 50-49 was just three of the 26 points he had in the game. Farmer also had three steals.
Garden City, led by Manzano's 18 points, got the job done when they needed to, though. And that was that mattered to the Busters' leading scorer.
"It was crazy," Manzano said. "It kind of scared me. I didn't want it to go into overtime because they have a good team."
Along with Manzano, Thomas finished in double-figure scoring with 14 points.
The Busters will tip-off at 8 p.m. at Seward County on Wednesday.
GCCC 60, Cloud County 59 (OT)
CLOUD CO. (17-11, 6-8) -- Kovalov 2-3 0-0 6, Herrera 0-7 0-0 0, Farmer 8-13 7-8 26, Taylor 1-3 0-0 2, Marshall 3-5 6-10 13, Tate 0-3 0-0 0, Ray 0-0 0-0 0, Shulte 3-7 0-0 0, McCray 1-3 1-3 3, White-Ready 0-3 0-0 0. Totals -- 18-47 14-21 59.
GARDEN CITY (18-10, 8-6) -- Wesley 1-3 2-3 4, Manzano 8-11 2-4 18, Davis 2-5 0-0 4, Thomas 7-11 0-1 14, Jackson 4-6 1-1 9, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Stephens 0-0 1-2 1, Williams 2-5 0-0 5, Ottley 2-5 1-6 5, Burley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 26-48 7-17 60.
Halftime -- GCCC, 27-22. 3-Point field goals -- Cloud 9-22 (Shulte 2-6, Farmer 3-5, Kovalov 2-3, Marshall 1-1, Herrera 0-5, McCray 0-1, White-Ready 0-1); GCCC 1-5 (Williams 1-3, Thomas 0-2). Rebounds -- Cloud 24 (Farmer 6); GCCC 35 (Davis, Ottley 5). Assists -- Cloud 9 (Herrera 4); GCCC 4 (Manzano 2). Blocks -- Cloud 1 (Marshall 1); GCCC 4 (Four with one); Steals -- Cloud 8 (Farmer, Taylor 3); GCCC 7 (Thomas 2). Turnovers -- Cloud 21, GCCC 22. Team fouls -- Cloud 16, GCCC 16. Fouled out -- Cloud, Marshall; GCCC, Ottley.
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