It was anything but an easy sweep of games.
But, in the end, it was a sweep to end the non conference portion of the schedule.
The Barton men’s basketball team was not dominant during its home Barton Booster Club Classic this weekend at the Barton Gym.
But the 25th ranked Cougars held on for a 71-66 win over Clarendon on Friday, then closed out the weekend with a 77-65 win over McCook Saturday night.
Those two wins wrap up the non conference slate of the Cougars season at 6-0.
“The guys are playing tough,” Coach Jeremy Coombs said. “We are battling and learning and getting wins while we are doing it.
“But we did not execute very well. That has to get better.”
The final 24 games of the season will be against Jayhawk Conference foes.
With a couple more teams dropping to NJCAA DII in the conference, the remaining 13 DI teams will play a home-and-home with each other for a total of 24 games.
That will get underway Wednesday when Barton plays host to Garden City. A Garden City team that is 6-0 for the first time in a decade.
Things were not easy in the win over McCook despite the final score.
McCook took a lead on the Cougars late in the first half then held that lead well into the second half.
In fact, Barton did not take the lead in the second half until just more than 10 minutes remained in the game. The Cougars went up 51-49 on a 15-footer from Hannes Saar.
Barton kept the pressure on.
The run hit 12-2 when Cougar Downing threw up a long lob to De’Antray Hughes for a slam dunk and a 61-52 lead with seven minutes to play.
The lead finally hit double figures at 69-59 when Miles Thompson knocked down a baby hook in the lane with just more than three minutes to play.
Downing increased it to 71-59 with 1:59 to play to put him over 20 points on the night and give Barton its biggest lead of the night.
Downing, the reigning NJCAA Player of the Week, was key in the Cougars second half run.
The sophomore from Olathe scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half. That after getting hit with a technical foul just prior to the half. He was 10-for-10 at the free throw line.
Evans Kipruto and Modibo Sonogo each tossed in 10.
Thompson was instrumental in the run that gave Barton some separation from the Indians. The lefty finished with eight points, all scored during the key run for the Cougars.
Friday wasn’t the prettiest of games for Barton either, but the Cougars got it done.
It was until the final stages of the game that Barton was able to get the win.
Barton used a 12-3 stretch in the second to take the lead but a 6-0 run by Clarendon late made it a 60-57 lead for the visitors.
The Cougars responded. Hannes Saar scored five in a 7-0 that put the Cougars back up 64-60 with 2:51 left.
Clarendon would trim to lead to a pair one more time but Barton held off the Bulldogs for the win.
Saar led Barton with 16, followed by Trey Bates with 12. Evans Kipruto with 11 and Hughes with 10. Hughes also had nine rebounds while Downing dished out seven assists.
Barton 77, McCook 65
McCook 34 31-- 65
Barton 30 47-- 77
McCook 1-5 (65)
Lual 3-10 3-4 10, Perry 3-12 3-4 10, Boles 3-12 7-8 14, Fungula 2-4 0-0 5, Poznanovic 2-4 2-2 6, A Dennis 2-5 1-4 5, D Dennis 2-4 0-0 6, Summers 3-4 0-0 9. Totals 20-56 16-22 65.
Barton 6-0 (77)
Downing 6-12 10-10 23, Saar 2-9 2-3 6, Bates 2-6 4-4 8, Hughes 4-6 1-3 9, Kipruto 4-6 2-2 10, Rolfs 0-2 0-0 0,Thompson 4-6 0-1 8, Robinson 1-2 0-0 3, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0, Sanogo 4-5 2-7 10 . Totals 27-54 21-30 77.
3-pointers -- McCook 9-26 (Summers 3-4, D Dennis 2-4 Fungula 1-2, Lual 1-4, Perry 1-5, Boles 1-6, S Dennis 0-1). Barton 2-14 (Robinson 1-1, Downing 1-5, Hughes 0-1, Bates 0-3, Saar 0-4).
Rebounds - McCook 34 (Lual 8), Barton 35 (Kipruto 7); Assists - McCook 8 (Perry 4), Barton 10 (Bates 5). Steals - McCook 3 (3 with 1), Barton 11 (Hughes 3). Blocks - McCook 1 (Lual), Barton 3 (Downing, Kipruto, Sanogo).
Turnovers - McCook 17, Barton 10; Fouled out - Fungula, McCook. Technicals - D Dennis, McCook; Downing, Barton.
Barton 71, Clarendon 66
Clarendon 24 42 -- 66
Barton 26 45 -- 71
Clarendon 3-2 (66)
Okpoh 0-9 3-4 3, Cooper 0-5 2-2 2, Loyal 4-8 7-8 18, Nutter 10-21 5-9 26, Collinsworth 2-5 0-0 6, Johnson 3-4 2-2 8, Copeland 1-4 1-2 3, Landell 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 20-27 66.
Barton 5-0 (71)
Downing 1-9 7-8 9, Saar 5-16 5-5 16, Bates 5-11 1-2 12, Hughes 5-6 0-4 10, Kipruto 4-5 3-4 11, Locandro 1-3 0-0 2, Thompson 0-0 0-2 0, Robinson 3-9 0-0 9, Sanogo 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-61 16-25 71.
3-pointers -- Clarendon 6-22 (Loyal 3-4, Collinsworth 2-5, Nutter 1-2, Cooper 0-2, Thomas 0-2, Okpoh 0-7). Barton 5-27 (Robinson 3-8, Bates 1-3, Saar 1-7, Locandro 0-1, Downing 0-8).
Rebounds - Clarendon 35 (Loyal 7, Landell 7), Barton 45 (Hughes 9); Assists - Clarendon 7 (Cooper 4), Barton 14 (Downing 7). Steals - Clarendon 7 (Johnson 2, Landell 2), Barton 7 (Downing 2, Bates 2). Blocks - Clarendon 2 (Okpoh, Nutter), Barton 8 (Saar 3).
Turnovers - Clarendon 17, Barton 20. Fouled out - None. Technicals - Nutter, Clarendon.
