Dragons hold off T-birds

By Bailey Terry

The Blue Dragon men’s basketball team traveled to Cloud County on Jan 23 and won 70-60.

The Dragons’ record advances to 19-3 overall and 8-3 in the Jayhawk West Conference.

The leading scorer for Hutch was Bashir Ahmed, Bronx, New York, with 20 points.

Ahmed also added 11 rebounds and he was one of three Dragons to post double-doubles.

The other two Dragon players were Shakur Juiston, Paterson, New Jersey, with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Keanu Pinder, Perth, Australia, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Pinder added three more blocks to bring his career total to 99 blocks.

As a team, the Dragons had 48 rebounds and shot 68% from the foul line.

Cloud County was able to build a solid lead against the Dragons over the first six minutes.

The score was 9-18 with Dragons behind.

The Dragons were able to take their first lead after two made Ahmed free throws and four minutes remaining in the half.

The score was 23-22.

As the minutes ticked off the clock, the Dragons held the lead to half time: 26-25.

Those 26 points was the least amount of points scored by the Dragons in a half so far this season.

As the second half went on, the score was tied 35-35.

Ahmed hit a three to take the lead back for Hutch, 38-35.

The Dragons pushed ahead with 13-5 run to stretch their lead to 51-41.

With eight minutes remaining, Cloud County was able to come within six points, 52-46.

Over the last eight minutes, the Dragons only allowed two field goals.

Hutch kept the lead and won the game 70-60.

The Dragons took on Seward County in the Sports Arena on Jan. 20, and won 96-91.

A key player in the win was Juiston who posted his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 17 rebounds with 10 being offensive rebounds.

Juiston score 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the second half.

The Dragons are scheduled to play Barton in Great Bend on Saturday, Jan. 30.

The game tips off at 7:30 p.m.

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