EL DORADO — In a key Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division game on Monday night at The Power Plant, Butler was energized down the stretch while the No. 25 Cougars short-circuited.
Barton seemingly used up all of its energy getting back in contention in the second half while taking a short-lived three-point lead. The Cougars, who unleashed a 23-7 run to go ahead 55-52 after trailing by as many as 13 points, went without a basket during the final seven minutes, 20 seconds in falling 61-57.
The Cougars (21-5, 8-4) likely will fall out of the new NJCAA Division-I rankings that will be released later today, and their conference title hopes are all but gone. They have first-place Hutchinson coming to Kirkman Activity Center on Wednesday night.
Barton guard Kevin Kuteyi scored a career-high 21 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, sophomore guard Al Key finished with 12 points and freshman post player Raheem Johnson had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Late in the game, Barton went five minutes without scoring a point before Rapheal Stephens made 1 of 2 free throws for a 56-54 advantage with 3:16 remaining.
After Key missed a pair of free throws, Bakari Triggs converted a pair of foul shots on the other end to tie the game at 56 with 2:27 remaining.
Triggs then added a layup as Butler retook the lead at 58-56.
Butler’s Sean Osler then stole the basketball from Turon Parker, and he later converted 3 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds to keep the Cougars at bay.
Much of the first half was filled with runs before Butler built an 11-point halftime lead.
The Grizzlies (19-6, 7-4) had an early 13-2 run, and Barton answered with a 10-2 run of its own for a 19-18 lead.
Butler answered back with a crucial 12-1 spurt, capped by Lamont Pruitt’s backdoor cut and alley-oop slam dunk for a 31-20 advantage.
Key later thundered in for a tomahawk dunk to make it 31-26, but Triggs hit a layup off a turnover and Ja’ln Williams nailed a 3 to help Butler build its lead to 39-28 at halftime.
— Mack McClure
JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference
Western Division
MEN
Monday
At El Dorado
The Power Plant
Butler Commnunity College 61, Barton 57
BARTON (21-5, 8-4)
Kevin Kuteyi 7-12 4-5 21, Algie Key 5-10 2-6 12, Raheem Johnson 3-10 3-4 9, Andell Cumberbatch 2-11 1-1 5, Turon Parker 1-9 2-2 4, Rapheal Stephens 1-3 1-2 3, Shaka Thomas 1-4 0-0 3, John Goodson 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Unrau 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 13-20 57.
BUTLER (19-6, 7-4)
Shomari Triggs 5-7 2-2 14, LaMont Pruitt 4-5 1-1 9, Ja’ln Williams 3-9 0-0 8, Bakari Triggs 3-6 2-2 8, Trent Richardson 2-8 3-6 7, Sean Osler 2-7 3-6 7, Sean Goodwin 2-5 0-0 4, Jordan Madrid-Andrew 1-2 0-0 2, Larry Fitzgerald 0-4 2-3 2, Zach Schraeder 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Watson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 13-20 61.
Halftime —Butler 39, Barton 28. Three-point goals—Barton 4-18 (Kuteyi 3-6, Thomas 1-3, Cumberbatch 0-2, Parker 0-5, Unrau 0-1, Key 0-1); Butler 4-16 (Shomari Triggs 2-2, Williams 2-3; Bakari Triggs 0-2, Richardson 0-2; Sean Osler 0-3, Larry Fitzgerald 0-2; Eric Watson 0-2). Rebounds — Butler 43 (Sean Osler 10); Barton 40 (Johnson 13). Assists — Butler 10 (Triggs 4); Barton 7 (Key 3). Total fouls — Butler 20, Barton 17.
