Three Blue Dragons scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough as the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team fell on the road 73-57 to 25th-ranked Seward County Saturday at the Greenhouse in Liberal.
The Dragons drop to 10-12 overall and 5-10 in Jayhawk Conference play. Seward County improves to 15-7 overall and 10-6 in the Jayhawk Conference.
The Saints sweep the regular season series against the Blue Dragons, the first time that feat has happened since the 2018-19 season.
Sophomore Anthony Alston led the scoring for the Blue Dragons with a season-high 17 points, including 12 in the second half. Alston shot efficiently, going 7-10 from the floor and tied a season-high with three 3-pointers.
Bobby Cannon chipped in with 14 points on 5-11 shooting from the field as well as a pair of 3-pointers. Daleron Thomas was the other Blue Dragon scoring in double figures with 13 points. Thomas shot 4-11 from the floor but was just 1-6 from beyond the arc.
Seward County outscored Hutchinson 44-5 in bench points and was out-rebounded 31-23.
Hutchinson shot 44.7 percent (21-46) and 31.8 percent (7-22) from distance.
Seward County’s leading scorers both came off the bench – Antonio Williams Jr. had a game-high 22 points on 6-12 shooting and also chipped in two 3-pointers. Williams also knocked down 8-10 from the free throw line. Korbin Dowdell was the other main contributor off the bench for the Saints, tacking on 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
The Saints shot 44.2 percent (23-52) from the field and hit 12 3-pointers on 29 attempts. Seward was 15-22 from the charity stripe.
Hutchinson’s only lead came early in the ballgame after Anthony Alston hit a three-pointer to make it 5-4 Hutchinson with 18:37 left in the first half. The Dragons kept the deficit within single digits for most of the first half with the Saints leading by as much as 11. With one second left in the first half, Daleron Thomas knocked down a baseline jumper to cut the Seward lead to 30-23 heading into the half.
In the second half, Hutchinson trimmed the Seward County lead down to five when Alston made a layup to make it 30-25, but that was the closest the Blue Dragons would get in the second half. Seward County’s lead grew to 20 with 11:12 in the second half.
The Dragons will play host to the Barton Cougars on Wednesday, Feb. 4th at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES — Hutchinson lost its sixth straight contest, which ties the second-largest losing streak dating back to the 1952-53 season. Hutchinson moves to 88-32 in the all-time series against Seward County, including 36-21 on the road. Dilen Miller scored a season-high five points. Anthony Alston scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
