Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division basketball
At Concordia
Arley A. Bryant Gymnasium
MEN
Wednesday
Cloud County Community College 85
Barton Community College 78
BARTON (12-3, 0-1)
Adam Young 5-14 3-4 16, Jalen Boyd 0-2 4-6 4, Colin Beatty 3-10 2-3 9, Dwayne Brunson 9-16 0-1 18, Carl Wallace 3-7 1-3 9, Kevin Barber 2-8 0-0 5, DeVonte Grant 4-11 0-0 11, Chris Cantino 2-3 1-3 6, Darius Hill 1-3 1-3. Totals 29-74 12-23 78.
CLOUD COUNTY (11-4, 1-0)
Ty Modupe 3-4 3-4 11, Richard Carter 7-12 6-8 22, Ben Steinlage 3-6 1-2 8, Devon Branch 6-11 7-10 19, Jordan Herrera 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Haverkamp 1-1 0-0 2, Onzie Branch 3-6 1-2 9, Brandon Newton 2-3 2-2 4, Alex Williams 1-5 1-2 3, Todd Johnson 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 28-53 21-31 85.
Halftime — Cloud 41, Barton 31. Three-point goals — Barton 8-24 (Grant 3-8, Wallace 2-2, Cantino 1-1, Barber 1-4, Beatty 1-2, Young 0-4, Boyd 0-2, Brunson 0-1); Cloud 8-16 (Modupe 2-2, Carter 2-5, O. Branch 2-4, Johnston 1-2, Steinlage 1-1, Newton 0-1, D. Branch 0-1). Rebounds — Barton 49 (Young 16, Cantino 8); Cloud 37 (D. Branch 7).
Assists — Barton 19 (Wallace 5, Beatty 4, Cantino 4); Cloud 15 (Carter 3, D. Branch 3). Turnovers — Cloud 18, Barton 17.
CONCORDIA — The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division opener between Cloud County Community College and Barton was a matter of survival.
Cloud County survived after it converted 8 of 9 free throws in the final one minute, 14 seconds of regulation to hold off a late rush by the Cougars for an 85-78 victory Wednesday night at Arley A. Bryant Gymnasium.
“You can’t simulate this stuff,” BCC head coach Craig Fletchall said. “Going on the road and playing a physical and athletic team, it’s going to take some growing pains with this group.
“But I was pleased with the way our team fought back. Twenty-six offensive boards … that’s the type of team we want to put on the floor. I think we really showed our athleticism and our heart. This is a good conference, and it’s going to be a grind.”
Cloud, which improved to 11-4 overall and 1-0 Jayhawk West, had a 79-72 lead with 1:03 remaining after Ty Modupe sank a pair of free throws.
The Cougars (12-3, 0-1) refused to wilt. Colin Beatty drained a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key with 55.7 seconds left. After a Cloud turnover, BCC’s Chris Cantino dropped in a trey from the left baseline to pull the Cougars within 79-78 at the 39.1-second mark.
Cloud’s Richard Carter made two free throws with 26.8 seconds left for an 81-78 ballgame.
On the other end of the floor, the Cougars’ DeVonte Grant, who made 3 of 8 3-pointers in the game, had an NBA-range 3 bound off the rim.
With BCC forced to foul, the Thunderbirds then made 4 of 5 at the line in the final 19.2 seconds to salt away the win.
Power forward Dwayne Brunson had 18 points and five rebounds, and BCC teammate Adam Young had a double-double with 13 points and 16 of the Cougars’ 49 rebounds as they had 12 more than the T-Birds.
Grant finished with 11 points.
Cloud was led by Richard Carter with 22 points. Devon Branch had 19 points and Ty Modupe added 11 for the T-Birds.
While Cantino was back in uniform for the Cougars after serving a five-game suspension, point guard Storm Sanders was held out while his grades from intersession were being processed.
Sanders, who was on the bench, is expected back soon, but how soon is yet to be determined.
