Box Score The Conquistador men' basketball team was looking to put a stop to a two game losing streak on Saturday night of their home classic and seemed to have found the formula for a big win. They opened up a big early lead, but had to withstand a huge run by the Hesston Larks late in the game to hold on for an 84-82 victory.

In the first half the Conqs came out and found their offensive rhythm almost immediately as they jumped to an early lead behind solid early play from post player Jyrus Freels. Dodge immediately recognized a size advantage for Freels and made a point to get him involved early. The Conqs rode that wave of momentum to a 27-13 lead at the media timeout of the first half. After the break, the Conqs continued to put pressure on the Larks with a strong effort from other big man Joe Petrakis as he used a combination of an inside and outside game to frustrate the Hesston defenders. Dodge City also used one of their better defensive effort to hold the Hesston offense at bay over the first twenty minutes of the game. By the time the half was over, the Conqs had pushed out to a sixteen point lead at 44-28.

When the second half started it appeared that it was going to be much of the same for the Conqs as they enjoyed a comfortable lead and continued to dominate the boards to maintain their lead. At the media timeout of the second half, the Conqs still had a 64 to 41 advantage, but the momentum seemed to change at that point. Hesston got hot from behind the arc. After shooting only 3 for 17 from deep in the first half, the Larks found their range. They were 50% from behind the arc in the second half shooting 7 for 14 with a majority of those coming in the final ten minutes of the game. The Larks made a tenacious charge back at the Conqs, but the sophomores seemed to steady the team as Justice Dixon and Kevin Howard were strong in the final twenty minutes for the Conqs. Howard showed his toughness grabbing eight boards on the night and getting to the free throw line seven times, mostly in the second half. Dixon helped the Conqs ice the game as he hit 8 of 9 free throws on the night, with 5 of 6 being in the final two minutes of the game. Hesston drew to within two points, but a three pointer went off the rim with just four second remaining and the Conqs were able to secure the victory.

Freels put in his usual work with another double-double on the night with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Dixon added 16 of his own while Petrakis and Howard had 12 and 10 respectively. The biggest advantage of the night for Dodge City came at the free throw line as they used their inside game to get to the line 27 times, hitting 18 of them.

The Conqs will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Lee College in Baytown, TX.