13th ranked Cougars go down in Goodland #GoBarton
13th ranked Cougars go down in Goodland.
Long distance shooting sent the 13th ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team to a Saturday evening 99-92 loss at Fort Hays Tech Northwest.
The Cougars trailed by ten in first half action before unleashing a 19-4 stretch leading to a four point halftime edge.
Barton maintained the margin until twelve minutes to play but Fort Hays Tech got hot knocking down four of their 10 three-pointers during their own big 17-5 stretch in flipping the tide with nine minutes remaining.
Barton widdled the eight point deficit to one twice, the last coming with three minutes left but the Tigers answered with another back-breaking triple to hold off the Cougars' charge.
The seventh meeting between the teams in Goodland was the Cougars' first loss on the Tigers' home floor and just the second in the historical series as Fort Hays Tech's other victory came in Great Bend during the 2015 season.
More damaging to the Cougars is slipping Barton to 15-6 and tied for second place of the conference standings and 21-6 on the season while Fort Hays Tech's fourth straight victory improves its 8th place standing to 10-12 and 12-14 overall.
The good news for Barton is it still controls its destiny in holding on for second place with three games remaining. The Cougars wind up the regular season home slate on Wednesday hosting Colby Community College in a 7:30 p.m. followed by Saturday's trip to Independence Community College and the ensuing Wednesday's potential showdown finale at fellow second place 21st ranked Coffeyville Community College.
Five Cougars reached double figures being led by Brent Moss' 21-point, 13-rebound effort for his 13th double-double of the year with Fontaine Williams coming off the bench producing a career high 21 points.
Keandre Kindell added 13 points with 4 assists, Lyna Brooks, Jr. draining two of the Cougars' treys for 12 points off the bench, and Eltramon Smith, Jr. adding 10 points.
Sebastian Muchitsch hauled down 10 rebounds and contributed 7 points.
The Cougars held a twelve-point advantage in the paint but were outscored by eighteen points behind the arc as Barton finished just 4-18 while Fort Hays Tech was 10-of-27.
Knocking down 5-of-11 for the Tigers was Kalik Sharpe for a career high 35 points, to go along with, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and a game high 6 assists.
Marquintez Dixon poured in 17 points with 6 rebounds off the bench while just missing a double-double by recording 9 blocks.
Chase Harris provided the Tigers' final three-point dagger closing out his perfect 3-3 arc shooting in finishing with 15 points as Harold Thompkins' time off the bench resulted in an 11-point outing.