By MIKE KESSINGER

mkessinger@gctelegram.com

When Garden City Community College was finished with its fall semester, Broncbusters' men's basketball coach Kris Baumann felt good about his team.

Two games into Jayhawk Conference play, Baumann feels different, and for good reason. After losing just two games in 13 before Christmas break, the Busters have dropped their first two since returning.

"We've kind of got off to a rocky start," Baumann said. "I'm kind of disappointed with the way we've started. I was really happy with the way we left at Christmas. I thought we were playing really hard, and I thought defensively we were playing really well. We were sharing the ball and we were doing all the things good teams do."

Over the past two games, everything that had gone right for the Busters has turned wrong, and to make matters worse, both of their losses have come to teams under .500.

"Since we've came back, we've kind of lost our identity, and kind of forgot how we got to be 11-2," Baumann said. "I've just kind of been disappointed with our defensive effort. I've been really disappointed with the way we've shot the ball."

A team that had been able to count on its defense in key situations early this season, has had some trouble finding that help. In the conference opener at Colby Jan. 2, the Busters watched the Trojans go on a 14-0 run in the second half to open up what had been a tight battle. Garden City led that game most of the way before the Colby run.

On Saturday, the Busters struggled on the offensive side, especially from behind the 3-point line. From there, they were a chilly 2-of-24.

It's a problem Baumann hopes to have resolved before the team gets to far into their conference schedule.

"Hopefully on Wednesday we're going to see a completely different team that's played the first two games," Baumann said. "I think the kids are happy about playing at home. We've got to bring a certain toughness to the game that we -- I just don't think we've been really tough in our first two conference games. These are the game you're suppose to win. We've kind of dug ourselves a hole, and now we've got to find a way to dig ourselves out."

Garden City (11-4, 0-2) will have a shot to move back in the right direction Wednesday against Pratt Community College. It will be the Busters first home conference game.

Pratt will be the Busters' third straight conference foe with a losing record this season. The Beavers enter the game coming off an 71-70 overtime loss to Colby on Saturday.

Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m.