Sophomore guard Kyrell Shaw Jr. scored a career-high 37 point to lead the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team to a bounce-back victory Saturday night to close out the BSN Sports Tip-Off Classic.
Just 24 hours after their first loss of the season on Friday, the Blue Dragons defeated the Lamar Runnin’ Lopes 88-72 at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson improved to 4-1 overall and will play host to the Labette Cardinals at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Sports Arena.
Shaw sparked a Blue Dragon offense hitting 11 of 22 field goals with one 3-pointer. Shaw hit 14 of 15 free throws. Shaw is the first Blue Dragon with a 30-point game since Bobby Cannon had 30 points against Independence last season. He is the first Blue Dragon with 14 free throws in a single game since J.P. Ricks against Northwest Tech on January 6, 2024.
Cannon scored 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting with 3 of 6 shooting from 3-point range. Anthony Alston was the third Blue Dragon scoring in double figures with 11 points, hitting 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
Chudier Dorar had six points and five rebounds, while Lolo Rudolph had five points and six assists.
The Blue Dragons shot 46.4 percent (32 of 69), hitting 8 of 21 from 3-point range and 16 of 17 from the foul line. The Dragons out-rebounded Lamar 47-37. Hutchinson had 14 turnovers.
Defensively, the Blue Dragons held Lamar to 32.4 percent (24 of 74), hitting 7 of 33 from 3-point range and 17 of 19 from the foul line. The Lopes had only 11 turnovers.
Ahmed Cisse had 16 points and Jaylon Brown had 14 points to lead Lamar.
The Blue Dragons opened the game with a 7-2 run and never trailed in the game. Lamar cut that lead to 9-7 before Shaw scored four-straight points to lead 13-7 with 16:48 left in the first half.
Lamar pulled within 20-17 when Cannon, Shaw and Jonathan Ogunfuye all scored in a 6-0 run to push the advantage to 26-17 with 7:49 to play in the half.
Again, Lamar surged and pulled within 32-28 with 3:08 remaining. A Shaw transition 3-pointer started a 7-0 run. The spurt was capped off by a Shaw layup for a 39-28 lead with 37 seconds in the half. After a Lamar field goal with 31 seconds left, Dorar grabbed a rebound and scored from point-blank range with 1 second to play for a 41-30 halftime lead.
The Blue Dragons surged out to a 19-point led with 11:52 remaining when Shaw scored after an offensive rebounds to lead 64-45. Hutchinson’s lead never shrunk below double figures, but Lamar did get as close as 12 points at 78-66 with 4:00 to play.
Shaw scored 20 points in the second half as Hutchinson outscored Lamar 47-42 in the final 20 minutes.
GAME NOTES – Kyrell Shaw‘s 37 points is tied for the 14th-most points in Blue Dragon single-game history, tied with eight others players. … Shaw is the first Blue Dragon to score at least 37 points since Aaron Franklin had 38 points against Pratt in 2023. … Shaw’s previous collegiate career high was 31 points against Galladet University when Shaw was at Maryland-Eastern Shore. … The Dragons tied a season high with nine blocked shots. This was all-time win No. 1,946. … The Blue Dragons are 9-1 all-time against Lamar.
