Mozae Downing-Rivers' 8-foot kiss off the window in the waning seconds delivered Barton Community College's 70-68 Jayhawk Conference victory over Garden City Community College.
The lead exchanged hands 19 times including Kindre Kindell's 3-pointer on Downing-Rivers' ninth assist for a 64-63 Barton lead. Lajae Jones converted a pair of charity tosses before Garden City sank two free throws for a 66-65 lead.
Kindell's 3-ball missed, but Myles Thompson secured the offensive rebound. Kindell converted two free throws for a 68-65 lead with 18 seconds left.
Robinson curled off a screen for a lean-in 4th arc buster of the game tying it for the 8th and final time setting up a final nine seconds of dramatics.
Downing-Rivers found a seam putting up an 8-foot contested runner, kissing it off the glass for the game winner with 2.5 seconds.
Brody Robinson's half-court shot was too firm in banging off the backboard and side of the rim to the relief of the Cougar faithful.
The Cougars' record-breaking 17th consecutive league victory keeps Barton (26-1, 20-1) two games ahead Cowley (23-4, 19-3). Barton's magic number to clinch a berth in the 2024 NJCAA Tournament is two wins/Cowley/Hutchinson losses. Garden City drops to 17-11, 13-9 Jayhawk.
Barton plays Wednesday at Dodge City.
Downing-Rivers' distributed a game high nine assists, 20 behind Brandon Hughes third best 349 assists from 1994-96.
Kindell scored 16 points off the bench on 3-of-7 shooting beyond the arc and 3-of-4 free three throws.
Thompson added 15 points, grabbing four of his team high 9 rebounds on the offensive glass. He forced a late game Garden City player control foul as the Cougars held a plus-9 turnover advantage.
Jones added 14 points, eight rebounds with three steals. Cooper Jackson scored 11 points with three steals.
Garden City's Robinson scores 20 points including 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. Jordan Frazier scored 19 points with Braxton Jones adding 10 points. Thomas Tut posted a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double effort.
Garden City led by eight-points and led 32-30 at halftime.
Garden City countered an 8-point Cougar run with an 11-0 spurt for a 4-point lead.
Barton picked up the win despite shooting just 37.9% on the afternoon as the Broncbusters finished up at 38.8%. The Cougars forced 15 turnovers resulting in a plus-18 point advantage and a six rebound edge leading an eight point margin on second chance points.
NOTES Barton sweeps the season series, snapping Garden City's two-game win streak at Barton. Barton leads the series 44-13 at home, 76-38 overall.
Garden City 32 36 — 68
Barton 30 40 — 70
GARDEN CITY (17-11, 13-9)—Robinson 4-13 8-8 20, Frazier 6-12 4-6 19, Tut 5-9 4-6 14, Jones 2-11 6-6 10, Chukwu 1-1 0-3 2, Roberts 1-3 0-0 3, Totals 19-49 22-29 68.
BARTON (26-2, 20-1)—Kindell 5-13 3-4 16, Thompson 7-15 1-2 15, Jones 3-11 6-8 13, Jackson 4-9 2-2 11, Downing-Rivers 3-9 0-0 6, Malith 1-4 0-2 2, Moss 1-3 2-4 4, Bowen-Webb 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 25-66 14-22 70.
3-pointers—GC 8-26 (Robinson 4-11, Frazier 3-8, Roberts 1-3, Tut 0-1, Jones 0-3); BC 6-19 (Kindell 3-7, Bowen-Webb 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Jones 1-4, Malith 0-2). Rebounds—GC 37 (Tut 10, Chukwu 10); BC 42 (Thompson 9). Assists—GC 10 (Robinson 4); BC 14 (Downing-Rivers 9). Steals—GC 2 (Frazier 1, Chukwu 1); BC 9 (Jones 3, Jackson 3). TO—GC BC 6.
JAYHAWK MEN
Barton 20-1 26-1
Cowley 19-3 23-4
Hutchinson 18-3 23-4
Butler 17-4 22-5
Cloud 14-7 19-8
Garden City 13-9 17-11
NW Tech 9-13 12-15
Dodge City 7-15 9-19
Coffeyville 7-14 11-16
Colby 5-16 9-19
Pratt 5-16 8-19
Seward 5-16 7-20
Independence 0-21 1-26
2-24—Barton 70, Garden City 68; Hutchinson 74, Seward 59; Coffeyville 88, Dodge City 76; Butler 106, Indy 79; Cowley 79, Pratt 55; NW Tech 82, Colby 77
2-28—Barton at Dodge City; Cloud at Cowley; Coffeyville at Hutchinson; Pratt at Butler; Seward at Colby; Independence at NW Tech
