Locked up in another battle in the Jayhawk conference, the Dodge City men's basketball team took on another team sitting atop the KJCCC standings and earned a 95-93 road win over Independence.
The win moves the Conquistadors to 12-5 on the season and 8-3 in KJCCC action, keeping them atop the KJCCC standings. The Conqs also won their tenth in a row over the Pirates in the series.
The Conqs would have another strong shooting performance, shooting over 50% in a game for the sixth time this season, but it would be a back-and-forth affair against the Pirates throughout the night. The Conqs lead early up 6-4, but then fell behind 10-6, and the game remained 10-9 until just under 14 minutes left in the first half when a
Derrick Rivers three-pointer gave the Conqs a 12-10 lead. The lead flipped back-and-forth until the Conqs pushed ahead 30-29, and by the three-minute mark in the first half, the Conqs led 42-34 off a 12-5 run. In the final minute of the first half, the Conqs lead extended to double figures with the Conqs leading 51-41 at intermission. In the second half, the game remained tight as the Conqs would remain in front or tied until the 11:25 mark when Indy hit a three-pointer to give them the 65-63 lead. One minute later, the lead returned to the Conqs and would stay that way outside of a couple of ties working up to as high as eight at 85-77 with 4:13 remaining. Independence would slowly tighten things up, creeping closer and closer in the final minute as the Conqs led by two after splitting a pair of free throws to go up 95-93 with just 10 seconds remaining. Independence fired up a three-pointer at the buzzer that came up short, giving the Conqs the win on the road.
Conqs shot 50.8% from the field despite hitting just five three-pointers, while Independence shot 48.6% in the contest and hit 11 three-pointers.
The starting five for the Conqs posted double figures on the night, led by 27 points from
Rickey Loftin II, who was 8-16 shooting and 10-13 from the free throw line, adding six rebounds.
Jayvion Nurse tallied a 20-point performance on 7-13 shooting and 6-8 from the charity stripe, while Rivers added 14 points and six rebounds.
Brad Johnson finished with 12 points and five rebounds, and
Wesly Rosa had his third double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Conqs will battle for sole possession of first place in the KJCCC on Saturday, January 17th, at 3:00 pm against Seward County at home to continue the season and wrap up the first round play in conference action.
