Dodge City men's basketball snapped a two-game losing streak, outdueling Cloud County in another thriller in the series, with the Thunderbirds picking up a come-from-behind 103-95 victory.
The win moves the Conquistadors to 14-7 on the season and 10-5 in KJCCC action, helping the Conqs stay towards the top of the KJCCC standings.
Back-and-forth throughout the first half, each team would swing the lead their way multiple times as the lead was never larger than two possessions. Conqs took a 33-32 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the first half after a
Rickey Loftin II layup. Cloud County responded with an 8-0 run to take a six-point lead and then the Thunderbirds outscored the Conqs 14-8 leading to a 54-41 halftime score. The Conqs fell behind by 17 early in the second half but pushed back, pulling within one at 67-66 before grabbing a 68-67 lead for a moment on a
Richard Rojas layup. The game would remain within a bucket until the Conqs established their largest lead of the second half at the time, going up 89-84 with five minutes remaining. Conqs remained in front continually fending off Cloud County despite the Thunderbirds pulling within two, but the Conqs capped the game going 8-10 from the free throw line over the final 1:20 of the contest, leading to the 103-95 victory.
The Conqs shot over 50% for the seventh time this season, shooting 51.6% for the contest while going 33-39 from the free throw line.
A trio of 20+ point individual performances paced the Conqs on the day as Loftin II led the way with 28 points on 9-16 shooting and going 8-9 from the free throw line while grabbing nine rebounds.
Derrick Rivers added 25 points on 8-13 shooting and 7-8 from the free throw line; his 20+ point performance was his 12th of the season. Rojas had his best game as a Conq, recording 25 points on 9-12 shooting and going 6-6 from the free throw line, while
Justin Houston added a career-best performance with 12 points.
Up next, the Conqs will head to Colby to take on the Trojans on Wednesday, February 4th, at 7:30 pm to continue conference play.
