Barton Community College’s one-two combination of Algie Key and Dwayne Brunson teamed up to serve the knockout punch to Colby Saturday night.
Key, a freshman guard, scored 17 of his career-high 32 points in the first half, and Brunson, a sophomore power forward, poured in 16 of his 23 points in the second half, leading the Cougars to an 84-69 victory at Kirkman Activity Center.
Barton, 23-5, 9-5, is locked in a tie for third place in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division with Cloud County.
The Homecoming win gives the Cougars a first-round home berth for the NJCAA Region VI tournament.
“All four teams at the top of the West won tonight,” Barton head coach Craig Fletchall said. “It’s good to get a home berth.”
Key finished 10 for 19 from the field, converted 12 of 14 free throws, had six steals and only two turnovers as he dominated the flow of the game with his quickness.
“I wanted to be more aggressive and the thing we worked on earlier in the week in practice was getting more movement and spread the floor,” Key said. “It opened up our high-post game.”
Brunson dominated the paint, hitting 10 of 19 shots, including a trio of slam dunks, and grabbing 14 rebounds, 11 on the defensive end, for a double-double.
“Dwayne really came to play,” Fletchall said. “He was really in the flow of the offense.
“In the first semester, he was trying to take the whole load on his shoulders, but now he’s trusting his guards and is really playing well.”
BCC guard Turon Parker, scoreless at halftime, added 13 points, hitting 3 of 5 from downtown.
Colby, led by Jamie Adams with 16 points and 13 from Hurley Johnson, falls to 19-10, 7-8.
A 3-point barrage by Colby helped the Trojans mount a 36-35 halftime lead. They knocked down 6 of 14 opening-half 3s, including 3 for 3 from Johnson.
Early on, Colby had a 15-7 lead after Carson Konrade’s 3-ball from the right wing, prompting Fletchall to call a timeout at the 13:50 mark.
Key, who scored his 17 first-half points on 8-for-12 shooting, scored nine of the Cougars’ points during an 11-5 run to close Colby’s lead to 20-18 with 10:12 left before halftime.
Barton forged ahead, 31-27, after a Brunson basket, but Johnson drained back-to-back 3s during a 43-second stretch and 7-footer Roman Szymanski converted two free throws to help the Trojans to their slim lead at intermission.

KANSAS JAYHAWK COMMUNITY

COLLEGE CONFERENCE
WESTERN DIVISION

At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center

MEN

Saturday

Barton 84, Colby 69
COLBY (19-10, 7-8)
     Roman Szymanski 1-2 2-2 4, Jamie Adams 7-18 0-2 16, Carson Konrade 3-9 0-1 8, Chaz Sharp 3-8 0-2 7, Marty Wendel 3-5 3-4 9, Vincent Dillard 2-4 1-2 6, Hurley Johnson 4-6 2-2 13, James Davenport 0-0 0-0 0, Kristan Rolle 0 2-4 2, Scott Ochs 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 25-58 10-19 69.
BARTON (23-5, 9-5)
     Andell Cumberbatch 1-6 0-0 2, Algie Key 10-18 12-14 32, Dwayne Brunson 10-19 3-7 23, Carl Wallace 1-3 3-5 5, Darius Hill 0-1 3-4 3, Jonathan Pittman 1-2 2-3 4, Kurt Walker 0-4 1-2 1, Julian Rose 0-2 1-2 1, Turon Parker 4-9 2-2 13, DaVonte Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 27-39 84.
     Halftime — Colby 36, Barton 35. Three-point goals — Barton 3-14 (Parker 3-5, Walker 0-3, Cumberbatch 0-3, Key 0-1, Brunson 0-1, Grant 0-1); Colby 9-28 (Johson 3-4, Adams 2-9, Konrade 2-8, Sharp 1-5, Dillard 1-2). Rebounds — Barton 44 (Brunson 14, Parker 5); Colby (Adams 6, Sharp 6, Wendel 6). Assists — Barton 18 (Key 6, Walker 6); Colby 18 (Adams 9). Turnovers — Colby 16, Barton 5. Blocked shots — Barton 5 (Brunson 4); Colby 2 (Szymanski, Rolle).