Dodge City men's basketball got back in the win column with a strong road win in KJCCC action beating Pratt 86-74.
The win moves the Conquistadors to 5-6 on the season and 2-3 in Jayhawk Conference play. Conqs have won seven of the last nine meetings in the series with the Beavers of Pratt.
After falling behind 7-2 over the first four minutes of the contest the Conqs went on an 8-0 run to lead 10-7. Pratt would net a three-pointer to draw even at 10-10 but the Conqs countered with another 8-0 run with three-pointers from
Jamari Gamble and
Derrick Rivers, and a jump shot by
Kejuan Payne to lead 18-10. The Conqs lead pushed to double figures at 31-19 with just under eight and a half minutes left in the first half and worked to 20 points at 45-25 with four minutes remaining in the half. Going into halftime the Conqs led 50-35. The Conqs would continue to maintain a solid lead throughout the second half but see a surge late by Pratt to draw closer but the Conqs made some late free throws to keep the contest out of reach and earn an 86-74 win on the road.
Conqs finished the night shooting 47.7% from the field making 12 three-pointers and went 12-16 from the free throw. Defensively the Conqs held Pratt to just 36.5% shooting and the Beavers were only 19-30 from the free-throw line. The Conqs won the battle on the boards 40-32 in the matchup.
Mynor Strong matched his career-high with 24 points on 8-16 shooting including 4-7 three-pointers and 4-4 from the free throw line. Payne chipped in a career-best 11 points while adding nine rebounds and
Jayse Boatwright added 11 points along with six rebounds and six assists.
Kyle Burns off the bench added a 16-point night on 4-9 on shooting including 4-7 from three-point range and was 4-6 from the free throw line. Both
Derrick Rivers and Gamble each finished with nine points on the night.
The Conqs return home on Saturday, December 7th to take on Seward County at 3:00 pm and then will host Barton on Saturday, December 14th at 3:00 pm.
