Kyrell Shaw and Chudier Dorar combined for 46 points as the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team returned to the .500 mark in conference play on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons held their fifth-straight opponent under 70 points as Hutchinson defeated Cloud County 75-62 in the final game before the holiday break.
Hutchinson improved to 9-5 overall and is now 4-4 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons are off until January 3 when they travel to play at Colby. Hutchinson will next be in the Sports Arena on January 7 against Coffeyville.
Shaw scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Blue Dragons, hitting 11 of 19 total shots, including a season-high four 3-pointers on 10 attempts. Shaw added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Dorar made 9 of 10 field-goal attempts and finished with a season-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Blue Dragons shot 51.7 percent for the game.
Defensively the Dragons held Cloud County 26 points under its 88.2 point scoring average. Cloud County was held to 38.8 percent overall shooting, including 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
The last time Hutchinson held opponents to less than 70 points in five-straight games was in the first five games of the 2017-18 season.
Freshman Anthony Alston was the third Blue Dragon to score in double figures with a season-high 12 points, hitting 2 of 6 from 3-point range. Sophomore Lolo Rudolph finished with nine points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
The Dragons were 31 of 60 shooting overall, going 8 of 24 from 3-point range and 5 of 13 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 42-37, but had 26 assists to only 10 turnovers.
Manasseh Stackhouse had 23 points on 11 of 18 shooting to lead Cloud County. He completed a double-double with 11 rebounds. D.J. Holloway had 15 points.
Cloud County was 26 of 67 overall and was 8 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Thunderbirds had eight turnovers.
The Blue Dragons never trailed and there was only one tie at 2-2. Shaw nailed a 3-pointer with 18:40 remaining to give the Blue Dragons the lead for good. The Dragons scored six unanswered points and took an 11-3 lead on a Shaw layup with 13:44 to play in the first half. Shaw then sank back-to-back 3-pointers to bump the Dragon lead to 17-5 with 12:26 to go in the half.
Cloud County trimmed the Dragon lead to 29-21 with 5:38 to play in the half. Leading 31-23, Shaw and Alston scored on back-to-back possessions to returning a 12-points lead at 35-23.
The Dragons shot 57.1 percent in the opening 20 minutes and led 38-29 at halftime.
Hutchinson led 48-31 with 17:51 to play after a Shaw transition layup. Cloud County got back into the game with an 8-0 run. Holloway’s transition hoop cut the Dragon lead to 48-39.
A Daleron Thomas field goal capped a 6-1 run to lead 55-40 with 13:32 to play. Cloud County scored the next six points to pull with 55-49 with 11:44 to go.
The Blue Dragons kept answering Cloud County challenges. Leading 59-50, Dorar scored inside and then added an alley-oop dunk for a 63-50 lead with 8:14 remaining. The largest lead the Dragons had after that was 17 points.
GAME NOTES – This was all-time Blue Dragon win No. 1,951. … The Dragons improved to 4-4 at the Sports Arena this season. … This was Hutchinson’s sixth-straight win over Cloud County. The Dragons are 61-21 overall against Cloud County, including 36-3 at the Sports Arena. … This was the fourth-time this season and first time in six games the Dragons shot 50 percent or better. … This was the sixth time this season the Dragons had 20 or more assists. … This was Lolo Rudolph‘s second game of 10 or more assists. … Kyrell Reed reached the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season. … Chudier Dorar had six sixth game or four or more blocked shots.
