Dodge City men's basketball overcame a 20+ point deficit but fell just short of completing the comeback on the road against rival Garden City, falling 107-102.
The loss drops the Conquistadors to 17-10 on the season and 13-8 in KJCCC action.
The day started with an
Andrew Mabry three-pointer to open the contest, but Garden City scored the next five points to grab the lead and then went up 11-4. The Conqs countered with a 12-0 run to lead 16-11 as
Brad Johnson nailed a pair of three-pointers during the run. Garden City managed to tie the contest at 18-18 with 13:42 remaining in the first half, and the Broncbusters went on a 7-0 run to take control at 25-18. The Conqs held an 18-16 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the first half, but saw Garden City outscore them 41-21 to lead by double digits and make it a 57-39 game at halftime.
Throughout the second half, the Conqs continually chipped away at the deficit, finally pulling within single digits at 79-71 with just over nine minutes left. Just under six minutes to go, the Conqs drew within five and kept the game within single digits, pushing it to the wire. Down six with 51 seconds left, the Conqs hit a layup by
Jayvion Nurse and then stretched the game out with fouls. After a pair of Garden City free throws, Mabry drained a three-pointer for the Conqs. Garden City made five of the next six free throws while Mabry netted another three, and then Nurse heaved a three-pointer with four seconds left to make it 105-102. Broncbusters capped the game with two more free throws as the Conqs comeback attempt fell short at 107-102.
While the Conqs shot a strong 46.6% from the field and were 20-27 from the free throw line, Garden City shot 44.9% while netting 14 three-pointers and went 23-25 from the charity stripe.
Five Conqs tallied double figures in the loss, led by Johnson, who posted a career-best 24 points on 8-13 shooting, including 5-9 from three-point range, while adding six rebounds. Mabry continued his strong recent stretch, surpassing his career-best yet again, posting 20 points on 7-18 shooting, including 4-8 from behind the arc. Loftin II added 20 points on 6-12 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line, while grabbing nine rebounds. Nurse chipped in 18 points, while
Derrick Rivers tallied 10 points.
The Conqs are back home for the next two games, starting with a matchup against #16 Butler, who leads the KJCCC. The Conqs will host the Grizzlies on Wednesday, February 25th, at 7:30 pm.
