COFFEYVILLE — The Barton Community College men’s basketball team faced their first real challenge of the season on Saturday night during the Coffeyville Classic.
The Cougars were paired against host and No. 15-ranked Coffeyville.
Barton fell behind in the first half, and couldn’t quite make up the difference for a 79-70 setback.
The Cougars pounced early, jumping ahead 10-4, but a 5-0 Coffeyville run narrowed the deficit.
The Red Ravens tied the game at 12, and took over.
Barton answered Coffeyville runs with runs of their own, closing the gap to 25-23, but a 14-4 Red Ravens run made it 39-27 at halftime.
The Cougars outscored Coffeyville 43-40 in the second half, but fell short.
Darius Gibson led the Cougars with 27 points and eight rebounds.
Raheem Johnson, who fouled out in the game, came off the bench to score 12 points, and Isaac Williams added 10 points for Barton.
The Cougars struggled shooting the ball, going 25-for-60 (41.7 percent) collectively from the field. They did shoot a collective 16-for-20 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Ravens got 24 points from Mike Martin, who made five 3-pointers, and 20 points from Earl Peterson, who had four treys.

                                                                         — Kevin Price

JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Coffeyville Classic

MEN

Saturday

At Coffeyville

Coffeyville 79, Barton 70
BARTON (4-1)
     Darryl Johnson 2-4 0-0 4, Darius Gibson 8-15 10-14 27, Josh Burdine 1-2 2-2 4, Tyler Corley 2-10 2-2 6, Isaac Williams 3-9 2-2 10, Trey Unrau 0-2 0-0 0, Darius Bean 1-2 0-0 2, Deriece Parks 2-7 0-0 5, Raheem Johnson 6-9 0-0 12, Tyler Chambers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 16-20 70.
COFFEYVILLE (4-0)
     Mike Martin 8-13 3-4 24, Earl Peterson 5-14 6-6 20, Carl Crawford 4-9 3-4 11, Jalen Norman 1-4 2-3 4, Spenser Gales 1-5 2-2 4,  Lionel Ellison 0-4 2-2 2, Trey Wheeler 0-1 0-0 0, Travis Britt 1-6 0-0 3, Steffon Kyles 3-6 0-0 9, Julian Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Malcolm Davis 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-65 18-21 79.
     Halftime — Coffeyville 79, Barton 70. Three-point goals — Barton 4-20 (Williams 2-8, Parks 1-6, Gibson 1-2, Corley 0-2, Unrau 0-2); Coffeyville 13-36 (Martin 5-8, Peterson 4-12, Kyles 3-5, Britt 1-5, Norman 0-3, Ellison 0-2, Wheeler 0-1). Rebounds — Barton 42 (Gibson 8); Coffeyville 38 (Crawford 7). Assists — Barton 11 (Corley 4); Coffeyville 16 (Ellison 4). Steals — Barton 8 (Gibson, Burdine 3); Coffeyville 7 (Martin 3). Total fouls — Barton 20; Coffeyville 21. Turnovers — Barton 16; Coffeyville 11.