It didn’t take long for the Barton men’s basketball team to establish the outcome Wednesday night. It was a game the Cougars knew they were going to win. But a chance to have some fun and get some positive momentum.
The Cougars did just that in a 112-71 drubbing of the Sterling JV at the Barton Gym. The win pushed Barton over the .500 mark on the season at 3-2.
“We had some tough games so far this season so getting back home and getting an easy win was good for our players,” Barton Coach Craig Fletchall said.
Barton wasted little time in taking control of the Veteran’s Day affair. The Cougars bolted to a 17-3 lead – 17 straight after trailing 3-0, just four minutes into the game. The Cougars extended it to 33-10 and by halftime led 53-33.
Barton continued to score at a torrid pace in the second half, adding 59 more points to the board. Barton shot 61 percent from the field in the win.
All 10 players scored at least four points in the win for Barton with six hitting double figures. The Cougars hit 10-fo-26 3-pointers.
Leading the way was sophomore Tyrone Acuff. The Detroit forward ended the night with 19.
Ezekiel Charles added 17 points, Anthony Smith 15, and Manqisto Dang 14 points. Hays sophomore Jordan Windholz finished with 12 and Dequandre Dentmond 11.
The Cougars had 27 assists on their 41 field goals.
“Our kids were looking to make that extra pass tonight,” Coach Fletchall said. “They wanted to get everyone involved in what we were doing.
“We had great balance and that comes back to being unselfish tonight. We only have 10 guys right now so they know they are all going to get to play. The chemistry was really good.”
Barton forced Sterling into 26 turnovers as the Cougars nabbed 20 steals.
Zach McGuire led Sterling with 24 points.
Barton will head to Salina this weekend for the Brown Mackie Classic. The Cougars will take on Planet Athlete Friday at 5 p.m. then take on Western Iowa Tech Saturday at 1 p.m.
Planet Athlete is a team that is playing several junior college teams this year including Southern Idaho and McCook (Neb.) recently.
The Cougars beat Western Iowa Tech last weekend at the Indians Hills Classic.