Another game that looked like a good shot at a win. Another game that slipped away.
That was the scenario for the Barton men’s basketball team Monday night in the final game of the first semester.
Barton led most of the way - nearly 30 of the 40 minutes - but in the end, it was No. 21 Butler that escaped the Barton Gym with a narrow 1-point win. The Grizzlies left Great Bend with a 60-59 win over the Cougars to keep them near the top of the Jayhawk standings.
The loss plummeted Barton to a tie for last in the Jayhawk with Northwest Tech at 2-6 in the conference. The Cougars, a perfect 6-0 heading into conference play, are now 8-6 overall.
Butler, meanwhile, is sitting third in the 14-team league at 6-3. Dodge City leads the Jayhawk at 7-0 while Hutchinson is 8-1. Those two schools sit back-to-back in the NJCAA poll with the Conquistadors No. 5 and the Blue Dragons No. 6.
Barton, ranked No. 12 earlier in the year when it was 6-0, now heads to Christmas on its second 3-game losing streak since conference play started.
“For the most part we played pretty good,” Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “We played hard. If we play this hard in some of our other losses we have won those games.”
The Cougars had a chance to tie or take the lead with a pair of free throws in the waning seconds, but came up empty.
The Cougars were rolling in the opening half, building a 12-point lead at one point. Barton led 25-13 following a 3-pointer from Keith Robinson with just less than five minutes left in the half.
By halftime the lead was 29-22 and just three minutes into the second half it was tied at 29-all.
Barton was able to build that lead back to eight and held that lead until a 10-2 Butler run tied the game at 46-all with 8:38 to play.
It was Butler’s turn to take a big lead, pulling out for a 58-51 lead with 4:20 to play before the Cougars rallied.
Back-to-back buckets by Trey Bates and Hannes Saar cut it to 58-55. A pair of Myles Thompson free throws made it a 60-59 game with 1:02 to play.
Thompson would have two more free throws to tie or give Barton the lead with two seconds to play but couldn’t convert on either.
Barton is now off until January 5 of next year when Seward County rolls into the Barton Gym for Jayhawk play.
“They are off for two weeks,” Coach Coombs said of his players heading home for the holiday break. “They want some family time but they also need to get in the gym and get some shots up and some work in.”
21 Butler 60, Barton 59
Butler 41 31 -- 72
Pratt 34 41 -- 75
Butler 11-3, 6-3 (60)
Holt 4-13 4-5 13, Okon 3-13 6-9 12, Thomas 2-8 0-1 5, English 3-10 8-8 15, Ondekane 3-6 1-4 7, Payne 1-4 0-0 2, Warrior 2-6 1-2 5, Powell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals - 18-61 20-29 60.
Barton 8-6, 2-6 (59)
Downing 5-11 4-4 15, Saar 3-8 2-2 8, Bates 3-7 0-0 6, Hughes 0-3 2-2 2, Kipruto 2-2 4-5 8, Rolfs 0-4 0-0 0, Locandro 2-3 0-0 4, Thompson 1-7 2-4 4, Robinson 1-5 0-0 3, Jordan 0-2 0-0 0, Sanogo 4-6 1-2 9. Totals - 21-58 15-19 59
3-pointers -- Butler 4-20 (Warrior 1-2, Holt 1-5, Thomas 1-5, English 1-5, Okon 0-1, Payne 0-1, Powell 0-1); Barton 2-17 (Robinson 1-5, Downing 1-6, Bates 0-1, Rolfs 0-1, Jordan 0-1, Saar 0-3).
Rebounds - Butler 43 (Thomas 8), Barton 41 (Hughes 8). Assists - Butler (8 (Holt 3), Barton 9 (Saar 4). Steals - Butler 9 (Okon 3), Barton 5 (Kipruto 2). Blocks - Butler 3 (English 2), Barton 8 (Sanogo 4).
Turnovers - Butler 13, Barton 12. Fouled out - Payne, Butler; Sanogo, Barton. Technicals - None.
