The Garden City Telegram

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GCCC withstands late flurry by Saints to get win

Published 2/25/2010 in Sports

By MIKE KESSINGER

mkessinger@gctelegram.com

The Garden City Community College men's basketball team left the court at Perryman Athletic Complex on Wednesday with a small sense of relief — at least for the short time that is.

The Broncbusters held off a late flurry by Seward County to come away with an 85-82 win and with it keep the team's hope of of opening Region 6 play at home Tuesday. GCCC (16-13, 7-8) will need plenty of help from other teams in the Jayhawk Conference Western Division, though, if they are to get a first round at Perryman x.

"I'll tell you what I was really impressed with, (Seward County) came out and really hit us in the mouth," GCCC coach Kris Baumann said. "I mean they really hit us. They came out on fire and we battled back and took the lead at half. We came out in the second half and did a good job really attacking them. We beat a very good team tonight."

Baumann will take any kind of win at this point, and if Wednesday's proved anything, it's that the Busters aren't afraid to take it right to the final seconds to pick up a victory. After a heartbreaking one-point loss at the buzzer to Cloud County on Saturday that snapped a four-game winning streak, the Busters were in an eerily similar situation against Seward County (21-8, 10-5). The only difference being instead of going for a win in the closing seconds like Cloud County was, the Saints were going for overtime. For the second straight game the Busters were at the free throw line in the final seconds as Bobby Wesley needed to make just one charity shot to assure a win with 3.5 seconds to play.

Against Cloud County, it was Eric Griffin who GCCC needed to convert a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left. Just like Griffin missed the two charity shots, Wesley did as well. The Saints' Donte McCarter raced down court and lofted a long 3-pointer at the buzzer that bounced hard off the backboard and the rim as time expired.

"I'm happy we won a close game, but we didn't do it the way we were supposed to do it," Baumann said. "I'm just disappointed in that — I've shown the guys a lot of film about finishing games and we give up three, three-point plays at the end of the game and we miss two free throws that would have put it away. But we fought all the way to the end."

Much of the Busters' offensive punch came from Griffin. The 6-foot-8 sophomore forward was almost perfect from the floor, hitting 10-of-11 shots on his way to a game-high 23 points. Griffin, whose overall game has improved in the recent weeks, came in averaging just 7.7 points. He more than tripled his average against Seward County, scoring his final points on a short layin with less than 25 seconds remaining to make it 85-80.

"I felt comfortable," Griffin said. "I had to help my teammates win it so we can get a home game in the playoffs."

Along with Griffin's 23 points, guard Chris McHenry finished with 20 points for the Busters. Sophomore guard Vincent Banks added 12 points before fouling out on a charge with 1:22 to go.

By beating the Saints, who have locked in the third seed from the Western Division, the Busters hope the momentum can carry them past Dodge City. The Conquistadors were off Wednesday and wait for GCCC (16-13, 7-8) with the same conference record as the Busters. If GCCC wins, the Busters will need for Cloud County to lose to Hutchinson. Pratt has the same conference mark as well, but because of the Busters split with them and Hutchinson, GCCC would get the higher seed. Hutchinson swept the two-game series with Pratt.

Seward County was led by Latiq Agard with 21 points. Marky Nolen, who scored 25 on the Busters on Jan. 27 in Liberal, dropped in 14 points, Robert Sigala and Marcus James each had 13 and Jon Tassin added 11.

"In the first half (of the conference schedule) we didn't have team chemistry," Griffin said of the Busters improvement from winning just two conference games in the first eight. "In the second half we've played more as a team. We've shot the ball more and really pushed it."

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GCCC 85, Seward County 82

SEWARD CO. (21-8, 10-5) -- McCarter 1-5 2-3 4, Sigala 4-8 2-3 13, James 4-8 5-8 13, Tassin 2-5 7-8 11, Agard 8-18 5-6 21, Thaw 0-1 1-2 1, Moore 1-2 2-2 5, Nolen 4-6 6-10 14, Chaney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 24-53 31-41 82.

GCCC (16-13, 7-8) -- Burley 3-5 2-3 8, Jackson 3-4 3-3 9, McHenry 6-18 6-7 20, Wesley 1-4 2-5 5, Banks 5-12 0-0 12, Morales 1-2 0-0 2, Jirmnson 3-9 0-0 6, Farris 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin 10-11 3-5 23, Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals — 32-66 16-23 85.

Halftime — GCCC, 46-44. 3-point goals — Seward Co. 3-12 (Sigala 2-4, Moore 1-2, McCarter 0-3, Tassin 0-2, Nolen 0-1); GCCC 5-25 (McHenry 2-10, Banks 2-8, Wesley 1-3, Jirmnson 0-3, Brown 0-1). Rebounds — Seward Co. 37 (Agard 7); GCCC 37 (Jackson 6). Assists — Seward Co. 6 (James 2); GCCC 14 (Wesley 6). Blocks — Seward Co. 4 (four with 1); GCCC 6 (Jackson, Griffin 2). Steals — Seward Co. 4 (four with 1); GCCC 8 (Jirmnson 3). Fouled out — GCCC, Burley, Banks. Team fouls — Seward Co. 21, GCCC 31. Turnovers — Seward Co. 15, GCCC 12.

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