For the second straight year, the Dodge City men's basketball program earned a spot in the Elite Eight of the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and finished their season there falling 75-69 to Tallahassee.
The Conquistadors cap the season with a 25-10 record making the National Tournament for the second straight year and 11th time in school history while repeating as the KJCCC champs.
Conqs jumped on top early scoring the first five points of the game and over the first nearly eight minutes the Conqs would outscore Tallahassee 22-9 to hold a sizeable lead. It was a 12-2 run over three minutes that propelled the Conqs to the 22-9 lead with 12:09 remaining in the first half. Tallahassee countered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to four points with 7:45 left in the first half. Conqs would continually fend off Tallahassee and push the lead back to as high as nine before carrying a 37-33 lead into halftime. The contest would remain tight throughout the second half with the Conqs holding the lead until 7:32 remaining in the game when Tallahassee took their first lead at 57-56. It would remain tight down the stretch, but Tallahassee would maintain the advantage down the final stretch and the Conqs fell 75-69.
In the loss, the Conqs shot 35.9%, while Tallahassee shot 44.1% including over 50% in the second half. Lead the way for the Conqs was
Jason Edwards who finished with 19 points and five rebounds, while
DJ Jones added 14 points and four assists.
Chris Robinson added 13 points and four assists, while
Cam Malray finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Jacobi Sebock chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds.
Year one under Head Coach, Brad Witherspoon was a strong one as the Conqs finished 25-10 on the season claiming the KJCCC title and earning a trip to the National Tournament both for the second straight year and making the Elite Eight.