DODGE CITY, Kan. - Playing against a short-handed Seward County team with only six available players, the Dodge City Community College men's basketball team jumped out to a double-digit lead and never looked back in an 80-70 win at the Student Activities Center in Dodge City on Saturday, February 25th. 

DC3 reaches the 20-win plateau for the third consecutive season while improving to 20-9 overall and 17-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. Seward County dropped to 8-21 overall and 5-20 in the KJCCC. 

After allowing the Saints to score the opening bucket of the game, Dodge City would score the next 11 points of the game to jump out to an 11-2 lead with 16:42 left in the first half. After a SCCC jumper, the Conquistadors would score the next six points while going on a 9-2 run to push their lead to double-digits just six minutes into the game. Seward County would keep within striking distance throughout the first half, not allowing DC3 to open up a lead of more than 17. After the Saints would trim the Dodge City lead to just nine points on consecutive possessions, DC3 would finish the first half on a 9-2 run to regain their double-digit lead and take a 46-29 lead into halftime. 

The Conquistadors largest lead of the game would come just over three minutes into the second half on a Trevon Evans triple that would push the Dodge City lead to 51-30 and put DC3 on the fast track to a victory. With the lead sitting at 59-42 with 12:31 remaining in the game, Seward County would start to trim away at the Dodge City lead to get within 10 at 59-49 with 9:39 remaining in the game. Holding onto a 67-58 lead with 5:47 left in the game, the Conquistadors would score six of the next eight points to take a 73-59 lead and regain some breathing room heading into the final stretch as the Saints would make one last push. Seward County would get no closer than 10 points though, as Dodge City would rely on free throw shooting to keep SCCC at arm's length. 

"Keeping young guys focused is difficult to do in a game like this, but we had to tell our players that Seward County is going to come out and play" said head coach Kyle Campbell in a post-game interview with Damon Post. "Reaching the 20-win mark is big considering that we are playing 26-conference games this year which shows just how well these guys have been able to grind throughout this season." "Monday's game at Hutchinson is a game where we have no pressure on us and we can work on some things to build some momentum heading into the Region VI Tournament."

Using 40 points in the paint, Dodge City would finish 31 of 63 (49.2%) from the field despite hitting just 34.6 percent (9-26) of their three point attempts. The Conquistadors would make the most of their limited opportunities at the charity stripe, going nine of 12 (75%). 

Josh Boutte would get back to his old ways after being limited to single digit points and rebounds for the first time in a game all-season by finishing with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Kourtney Ware contributed 17 points. Evans would be the only other Conquistador in double figures with 10 points. Seward County was led by a Student Activities Center record 40 points by Charles Beauregard, who would also pull in six rebounds. 

The regular season-finale for DC3 will send the Conquistadors to Hutchinson to face the No. 2-ranked Blue Dragons who are currently 27-1 and 23-1 in the KJCCC heading into a Saturday evening contest at Independence. 

NJCAA Region VI Tournament:
Dodge City will host an NJCAA Region VI Tournament game at the Student Activities Center in Dodge City on Thursday, March 2nd at 7:30 p.m. The Conquistadors will likely host either Pratt Community College or Neosho Community College, with the winner playing Sunday in Park City, KS in the Region VI Tournament Quarterfinals. No passes will be accepted for the game, and all fans who wish to attend Thursday night's Region VI Tournament game must purchase a ticket at the door.