Dodge City men's basketball stake claim on first place in the KJCCC once again by fending off another challenge to remain atop the KJCCC behind a 69-68 win over Butler.
The top 20 battle saw the Conqs improve to 18-6 on the season and 14-4 in KJCCC action.
Both teams opened the contest struggling to get their offense going but the Conqs soon would go up 8-4 at the 14-minute mark of the first half. It would be a dual back-and-forth and the Conqs held the lead until Butler swung it their way at 16-15 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The contest remained tight the rest of the half as the Conqs carried a 31-27 lead into intermission. The second half would see both teams have small surges while there were multiple gaps in the offense for both teams, also as both teams held the lead at different junctures. The game worked its way down to the final minute as the contest was tied 62-62 with 1:12 left. Butler would make a pair of free throws to take the lead, but a
Jason Edwards three-point made it 65-64 with just under a minute left. The next minute of basketball saw each team hit a clutch shot after clutch shot as Butler made a layup,
Cam Malray answered for the Conqs and then Butler answered back to lead 68-67 with 10 seconds remaining. Edwards would get a baseline jumper off for the Conqs and drain it with 3.8 seconds left to make it 69-68 and Butler's desperation near halfcourt three attempt misfired as the Conqs snagged the 69-68 win.
Conqs would shoot 40% in the contest and overcame Butler shooting 45.1% and the Grizzlies winning the rebounding battle. Defensively the Conqs forced Butler into 23 turnovers and only had 11 themselves
Edwards paced the Conqs with 25 points on 10-20 shooting adding four steals and three rebounds.
Cam Malray chipped in 13 points with five rebounds, while
Shawn Warrior added 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Chris Robinson had a strong game with nine points, six rebounds, eight assists, and two steals.
Another tough test stands in front of the Conqs on Saturday, February 11th as the Conqs will travel to Hutchinson for a 7:30 pm tip.
