Box Score HUTCHINSON, Kan. –In what would turn out to be their worst shooting performance of the year, the Dodge City Community College men's basketball team could not overcome an efficient shooting No. 2-nationally ranked Hutchinson Community College in an 104-66 road loss at the Hutchinson Sports Arena on the final night of the regular season.

DC3 is now 20-10 overall and concludes Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play at 17-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference heading into postseason play. The Blue Dragons finish up their 2017 KJCCC championship season with a 29-1 regular season record and 25-1 record in the Jayhawk Conference.  

A quick start and early lead for the Conquistadors would shortly be erased as Dodge City would see a 6-2 lead with 16:38 remaining in the first half get turned upside down. HCC would go on a 17-0 run to take a 19-6 lead with just over three minutes later and take control of the game. Despite consistently getting opportunities, DC3 could not cut into the Blue Dragon lead any more than 10 points as Hutchinson would go on another 8-2 run to take a 29-13 lead heading into the media timeout. Hot shooting would then allow for HCC to balloon their lead to 21 on a J.J. Rhymes layup with 4:20 left before halftime as the halftime deficit for the Conquistadors would settle at 56-29.

Neither team would be able to make ground to open up the second half as DC3 would start by going low to Josh Boutte who would score six points in the opening six minutes of the second half. HCC would carry over their efficient shooting into the second half by starting five of 10 from the floor to match the Conquistadors point-for-point to hold a 70-43 lead with 14:30 left in the game. The lead would be cut into slightly right out of the media timeout as a pair of Harris Brown free throws would cut the lead to 85-53 with 7:48 remaining in the second half. HCC would take over the rest of the way to build on their lead throughout the rest of the game as DC3 could not find an answer for the Blue Dragons plus 50 percent shooting performance.

Hutchinson would outscore Dodge City 27-15 from beyond the arc while finishing the game 38 of 73 (52.1%) from the field. The Conquistadors finished 22 of 71 (31.0%) from the field and made just 65.4 percent (17-26) free throw attempts. HCC had a 52-41 advantage on the glass and scored 23 second chance points. A 19-8 advantage in points off turnovers would also go in favor of Hutchinson. Boutte would lead the Conquistadors with 15 points and 11 rebounds to finish as the only Dodge City player in double-figures. Brown would score eight points off the bench while Mike Jones added three assists. Boutte will enter Thursday just 16 points short of becoming only the fourth player in Dodge City men's basketball history to score 1,000 points in the purple and gold.

The Conquistadors will officially find out their opponent for the opening round of the NJCAA Region VI Tournament on Tuesday morning, as Dodge City will host the No. 14 seeded team after earning the No. 3 overall seed. Opening round games will be played on Thursday, March 2nd, with Dodge City playing at the Student Activities Center with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. No passes will be honored, and everyone wishing to attend on Thursday night must purchase a ticket at the door. Should the Conquistadors advance to the quarterfinal round, DC3 will play on Sunday, March 5th at 5 p.m. at Hartman Arena in Park City, KS against the winner of the 6 vs. 11 game.