HESSTON — Things started slowly for the Barton Community College men’s basketball team.
The Cougars didn’t pick things up until the final three minutes of the game for a 62-53 win over Hesston on Wednesday night.
The Cougars led throughout most of the first half, not to say that they led by much.
Barton wasn’t able to get its leading scorers going, with Darius Gibson, who averages over 22 points per game, getting held scoreless in the first half.
Hesston closed the gap before intermission, but Barton held a narrow 27-26 lead at halftime.
Both teams kept things close throughout the second half.
Gibson scored a putback for his first points of the game to make it 40-38, but Hesston scored on the other end to make it 40-all.
Things went back-and-forth with the game tied at 47-all.
Johnson got a putback to make it 49-47 before he fouled out of the game.
Gibson got a steal and drove for a layup to make it 51-47.
Hesston made it 51-49 with less than 2:52 left on the clock.
Tyler Corley tipped in an offensive rebound to up the cushion to 53-49 with 2:22 remaining.
Corley got a steal and layup to give the Cougars a 6-point lead.
Travell Robinson got a steal on the following Hesston possession and lobbed a pass to Gibson, who dropped in a layup to give Barton its largest lead of the night at 57-49 with 1:47 remaining.
After Hesston sank one of two free throws, Corley went to the line, making one of two for a 58-50 Cougars lead.
Hesston’s Darion Martin sank a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to make it 58-53.
The Larks fouled to put Gibson on the free-throw line. The sophomore guard made both free throws to make it 60-53.
Gibson hit another two free throws, making it 62-53 with 21.4 seconds left.
After a series of 3-pointers failed to fall for Hesston, Barton ran out the clock to escape with a win.
Gibson finished with a team-leading 15 points, going 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Johnson finished with 16 rebounds, 10 points and eight blocks, narrowly missing a triple-double.
Corley added 14 points.
Barton improves to 5-1 on the season.
The Cougars are set to compete at the Salina Classic on Friday and Saturday, with a 3 p.m. game on Friday against Northwest Kansas Technical College and a Saturday afternoon game at 1 p.m. against Southeast Community College.

                                                           — Kevin Price