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Busters' rally cut short, drop fourth straight in conference
Published 1/28/2013 in Sports
Busters' rally cut short, drop fourth straight in conference
By ADAM HOLT
aholt@gctelegram.com
DODGE CITY — After a promising spurt early in conference play, the Garden City Community College men's basketball is sputtering entering the halfway point of the KJCCC season.
The Broncbusters are on a four-game losing streak, the latest a 69-62 setback to the Dodge City Conquistadors on Sunday at United Wireless Arena.
Garden City (10-12, 2-6 KJCCC) had a four-point lead with 8 minutes, 4 seconds to play after a Jade Cathey layup, then didn't hit another field goal over the next 7:21 of play. Dodge City finished the game on a 20-9 run to improve to 11-10 and 3-4 in conference.
"To me, it's a very disappointing loss in that you put yourself in a position to win, then kind of crack down the stretch," GCCC head coach Rand Chappell said.
That offensive drought for the Busters was a common sight during the current skid, although a lot of the problem against the Conqs boiled down to turnovers. Garden City gave the ball away 18 times, and Dodge City finished with 19 points off those turnovers.
After that Cathey layup with 8:04 to play, Garden City missed its next two shots, then turned it over on four straight possessions, the fourth leading to a fastbreak layup by Greg Travis that gave Dodge City a 58-53 lead.
"We made too many in the early part of the game," Chappell said. "You talk about the first possession of the game, we made one, it cost us two points. We spread them throughout. It seemed like at crunch time, we got right in there at 8 minutes and we had played hard enough and well enough to give ourselves a good chance to win, and we turned it over two or three times. A couple bad decisions."
The Busters didn't get much better on offense after reigning in the turnovers. Earlier in the game, they were able to pound the ball down low and were active in motion and on cuts. Over the last eight minutes, they were kept around the perimeter for the most part and looked stagnant.
"We made a couple calls, and really didn't get people lined up in the right place," Chappell said. "Then you get late in the shot clock, and maybe a couple guys tried to do a little too much, or whatever, instead of being patient and moving the ball."
On the other end of the floor, the Busters couldn't contain Jayhawk West leading scorer Vic Adams, who finished with a game-high 21 points. Adams hit some tough shots and went 3-of-9 on 3-pointers. Delvon Rencher added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, hitting from mid-range and driving to the rim.
"Adams is really a shot-maker," Chappell said.
Cathey had 18 points to lead the Busters, but was scoreless over the last eight minutes of play. Chris Hall hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to give GCCC a shot at a comeback, and finished with 16 points.
The game was even in the first half, with three ties and six lead changes. Reuben King got a layup with 11 seconds left in the first to pull Garden City within a point, but Adams gathered an offensive rebound and hit a three as time expired to make it 37-33 Dodge City at the break.
The Busters get a Wednesday bye before heading to Butler for a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday. Garden City's four-game losing streak is its longest of the season, and it could be tough to rebound on the second run through its Jayhawk West foes.
"It's challenging, and it tests their character," Chappell said. "I think we'll find out how they do on the test. You either have it, or you don't. We're trying to build a program here, and build some people we can win with."
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Garden City (62) -- Agholor 1-5 0-0 2, King 4-13 0-0 9, Webb 2-7 4-4 8, Hall 6-14 0-0 16, Cathey 7-12 3-7 18, Ebondo 3-5 1-3 7, Joseph 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-57 8-14 62.
Dodge City (69) -- Green 3-6 1-2 8, Travis 1-3 1-2 3, Crockett 4-9 2-3 11, Downing 0-2 2-2 2, Rencher 7-12 4-7 18, Tate 2-7 2-3 6, Adams 8-19 2-2 21. Totals 25-58 14-21 69.
Halftime--Dodge City 37-33. 3-point goals--Garden City 6-20 (Hall 4-10, Cathey 1-1, King 1-5, Agholor 0-1, Webb 0-3), Dodge City 5-14 (Adams 3-9, Crockett 1-3, Green 1-1, Travis 0-1). Fouled out--none. Rebounds--Garden City 41 (Cathey 12, Ebondo 12), Dodge City 33 (Tate 9). Assists--Garden City 9 (Agholor 3), Dodge City 7 (Travis 2, Rencher 2). Turnovers--Garden City 18, Dodge City 8. Total fouls--Garden City 18, Dodge City 15.
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