BY MACK McCLURE
mmcclure@gbtribune.com

Another cliffhanger for the Barton Community College Cougars at Kirkman Athletic Center.
What else is new? That’s the way the Cougars roll at home, where virtually every game is a nail-biting, hair-falling-out, brain-twisting adventure.
This time, the opponent was Garden City, the second-place team in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division entering Thursday night’s game with Barton.
No, this one didn’t go into overtime, where the Cougars have been snake-bitten at 0-4 this season. Instead, they took care of business at the end of regulation.
BCC sophomore Adam Young hit a pair of free throws with 29.7 seconds left and Colin Beatty did the same with eight seconds remaining, as the Cougars withstood every run the Broncbusters made at them in snapping a three-game losing skid with a 70-66 victory.
“Anybody that goes through a three-game losing streak in February, it just challenges you to why you’re playing the game,” Barton head coach Craig Fletchall said. “I thought our guys, the last two days, have enjoyed playing and enjoyed practicing.
“As long as they keep coming to play, the conference is so even and a couple free throws here or there and a bank-in shot … we’re still in a position where we can control our own fate and that’s nice.”
BCC freshmen Dwayne Brunson and Storm Sanders each scored game highs of 18 points, and the Cougars moved back into the thick of things in the Jayhawk West. Sanders was on fire, hitting 5 of 7 shots, including 4 for 6 on 3-pointers, while Brunson was 6 for 11 from the floor, adding to his double-double resume' as he grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Seward (10-2) sits alone in first place, but it’s a jumbled mess in a battle for second. Cloud County is 6-4 in conference play, Garden is now 6-5 and Hutchinson and Barton are 6-6.
Translation? Parity rules the West.
The Cougars finished 19 for 31 at the foul line for 61.3 percent, making 10 of 16 at the line in the second half after leading 36-31 at halftime.
“We missed a bunch of them to keep it close,” Fletchall said. “So really, free throws are a weakness for us, but we made them when it counted and we got some good stops.”
The Cougars held three-point bomber Chauncy Williams, who led the Busters with 14 points, to only 4-for-15 shooting, including 2-for-8 from long distance.
Still, Garden stayed in the game with its 3s, finishing 11 for 29 from downtown.
After trailing the entire first half, the Busters unleashed a 9-2 run out of the gate in the second half for a 40-38 lead. And, the Cougars appeared to be in trouble after a trio of 3s on three straight possessions for Garden gave it a 53-45 lead with 10 minutes to play.
But the Cougars came roaring back with an 11-5 surge, capped by Young’s 3-ball from the top of the key, giving BCC a 59-58 lead with six minutes left.
After GCCC tied the game at 59, Brunson converted a pair of free throws with 5:33 left for a 61-59 lead and BCC never trailed again.
A critical 3-pointer by Sanders at the 1:28 mark gave BCC a 66-62 lead, setting the stage for the four straight free throws in the waning seconds.