PRATT — It took two overtime periods, but the Barton Community College men’s basketball team finished off Pratt on Wednesday night, 91-84.
Struggling from the field during regulation, the Cougars took advantage of Dwayne Brunson’s offensive prowess.The 6-foot-7 forward claimed his fifth double-double in six games and his 23rd in his career, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
In a game where Barton struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 24 for 40 for 60 percent, point guard Algie Key went 15-for-18 from the line to score the majority of his 17 points.
Key, who was selected as the NJCAA National Player of the Week on Wednesday, entered the game with a deep muscle bruise in his shoulder. He finished 1-for-12 from the field.
In the second half, the scored was tied at 55 and again at 64. With four seconds remaining, Darius Hill, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, hit a basket to tie the game at 69.
Chad Coachman, who finished with 13 points for Pratt, was fouled by Key, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one, letting the game slip into overtime.
John Rutherford led Pratt with 18 points, and Aaron Abram had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Barton trailed most of the first half before ending the opening 20 minutes with a 16-4 run that lasted more than seven minutes and finished with the Cougars ahead 39-35.
Pratt sank 5 of 9 3-pointers in the first half, and shot 66 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes to take an early lead, but Barton took advantage of turnovers down the stretch.
The Beavers committed 11 turnovers compared to Barton’s three in the first half.
The Cougars, who are 24-5 overall, 10-5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Western Division, moved into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with Hutchinson and Cloud County.
Barton hosts Cloud on Saturday.

                                                                                            — Kevin Price

JUCO BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference
Western Division

At Pratt

Wednesday

MEN

Barton 91, Pratt 84, OT
BARTON (24-5, 10-5)
    Algie Key 1-12 15-18 17, Julian Rose 3-5 0-0 6, Turon Parker 4-10 0-0 11, Dwayne Brunson 8-18 8-9 24, Andell Cumberbatch 2-8 0-2 5, Carl Wallace 4-11 0-9 8, Darius Hill 5-7 0-0 10, Jonathan Pittman 1-3 0-0 2, Kurt Walker 2-4 1-2 5, DaVonte Grant 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 31-80 24-40 91.
PRATT (12-17, 3-12)
     Aaron Abram 6-12 1-2 13, Bryton Hobbs 5-11 5-7 15, Trae Beck 5-11 0-0 14, John Rutherford 7-11 0-0 18, Josh May 3-6 2-2 8, Chad Coachman 4-11 5-7 13, Chris Sponsel 1-4 0-0 3, Devn Callon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 13-18 84.
     Halftime — Barton 39, Pratt 35. End of regulation — Barton 69, Pratt 69. End of first overtime — Barton 76, Pratt 76. Three-point goals — Barton 5-14 (Parker 3-6, Cumberbatch 1-2, Grant 1-2, Rose 0-1, Walker 0-1, Hill 0-1, Key 0-1); Pratt 9-24 (Beck 4-8, Rutherford 4-8, Sponsel 1-2, Abram 0-3, Hobbs 0-2, Coachman 0-1). Rebounds —Barton 50 (Brunson 15); Pratt 42 (Abram 13). Assists — Barton 20 (Key 7); Pratt 17 (Hobbs 12). Turnovers — Barton 22; Pratt 11.