Back in the win column, the Dodge City men's basketball team stormed back from down double figures to lead late and snatch the win on a game-winning layup by
Jayse Boatwright in the final seconds to win 93-91 at Independence.
The Conquistadors with the win move to 6-10 on the season and 3-7 in KJCCC action while picking up their eighth straight win over Independence.
After the initial bucket of the game, the Conqs would fall behind and trail 13-8 with just over 16 minutes remaining in the first half. The Conqs would keep it with a handful at the most until a
Mynor Strong dunk with just under 13 minutes remaining brought the Conqs even at 17-17. The Conqs grabbed the lead on a
Daouda Cisse layup at 26-25 with seven and a half minutes left in the half leading to an Independence Pirates timeout. The lead flipped back to the Pirates and worked its way to nine with two minutes to go in the first half which would lead to a 48-40 Independence advantage entering halftime.
A quick 5-0 spurt by Strong and the Conqs drew the Conqs to within three early in the second half and the uphill battle for the Conqs continued until a Strong layup gave them their first lead in the second half at 61-60 with 11:35 left. Back-and-forth it went until the Conqs assumed control and worked their lead to 78-70 and then 85-73 with 3:56 left in the game after two
Jamari Gamble free throws. Leading 87-75 the Conqs would see the Pirates go on an 11-0 run to make it 87-86 with 2:05 remaining. After a layup by Gamble for the Conqs, Independence came back with a three-pointer to tie the game at 89-89. One of two free throws by the Pirates would push them up 90-89 but
Derrick Rivers answered as he muscled in another layup and the Conqs led 91-90 with 28 seconds remaining. Independence would earn two free throws and split the pair again leaving the game tied at 91-91 in the final seconds the Conqs would get their initial try at the rim blocked but
Jayse Boatwright on the inbounds put his head down to attack the rim and give the Conqs a 93-91 victory with the layup.
The Conqs shot 45.1% in the win and were 28-36 from the free-throw line, while also taking care of the ball with only 10 turnovers. Independence would shoot 44.6% for the game but have 14 turnovers and only go 19-31 from the charity stripe.
Strong matched his career-high with 24 points on 8-15 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line along with four rebounds. Rivers added 18 points going 8-9 from the free throw line while adding four rebounds, four assists, and a career-best five steals.
Keshawn Brown Jr. chipped in 16 points on 6-14 shooting and 4-5 free throws along with a career-high six rebounds. Gamble off the bench tallied a big 15 points going 7-9 from the free throw line while grabbing six rebounds. Cisse finished with 10 points on 5-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
The Conqs return to action on Wednesday, January 15th when they travel again to the east side of the state this time to take on Coffeyville at 7:30 p.m.
