HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team snapped a two-game skid with its fourth second-half comeback of the season on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.
Trailing by two points with 13:21 remaining in the second half, the Blue Dragons got a combined 45 points from D.J. Dudley, Bo Aldridge, Jaquez Thornton and Isaiah Jackson in the final 20 minutes to lift Hutchinson to an 83-78 KJCCC victory over Garden City.
The Blue Dragons improved to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the KJCCC. Hutchinson closes out the first semester on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Cloud County in Concordia. Garden City is now 6-6 and 2-5 in the KJCCC.
Hutchinson led Garden City 36-26 at halftime and led 42-31 with 17:12 remaining in the second half. Garden City went on a 15-2 run over the next 3 minutes, 51 seconds to take a 46-44 lead after two Antonio Chol free throws.
The Blue Dragons immediately responded as the quartet of Dudley, Aldridge, Thornton and Jackson combined to score Hutchinson’s final 39 points of the game to earn the Blue Dragons’ fifth home win of the season.
Dudley and Thornton led the Blue Dragons with 21 points each.
Dudley scored 11 points in the second half. Overall Dudley was 7 of 13 shooting, going 2 of 4 from distance and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. Dudley added seven rebounds and a career-high four steals.
Thornton scored 10 second-half points. He was 3 of 6 overall from 3-point range and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line. Thornton had five rebounds and four assists.
Aldridge had 16 of his 18 points in the second half. Aldridge was 5 of 9 shooting with a 3-pointer and 7 of 7 from the foul line. Jackson scored eight of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes on 6 of 9 shooting he added six rebounds.
Hutchinson shot 41.7 percent for the game (25 of 60), going 7 of 27 from 3-point range and 26 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons had a 41-36 rebounding advantage. Bobby Cannon led with 12 rebounds. The Dragons had 13 turnovers and a season-low 11 assists.
Chol knocked down 4 of 10 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points to lead Garden City. Caleb Smith added 19 points and Josiah Sabino had 15 points. Garden City shot 38.2 percent from the field (26 of 68), going 9 of 26 from 3-point range and 17 of 26 at the free-throw line. The Busters had 11 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons got out fast scoring the first eight points of the game and led 11-1 after a Khalil Arnold‘ pull-up jumper with 15:14 to play. Garden City followed with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to four points, but Thornton was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three free throws to give the Dragons a 17-10 lead with 12:19 left in the first half.
Hutchinson’s lead reached double figures again on a Thornton pull-up 3-pointer for a 22-12 lead with 9:40 left. Two Dudley free throws with 8:08 left gave the Dragons a 28-16 lead. The Dragons built a game-high 13 point lead after a Dudley basket in the paint gave Hutchinson a 34-21 lead with 3:21 to go.
Garden City cut the lead to 34-26, but a Cannon tip-in with 11 seconds left gave the Dragons a 36-26 halftime lead.
A Mikhail Abdul-Hamid fast-break pull-up jumper with 17:12 left in the second half gave Hutchinson a 42-31 lead. That was the Blue Dragons last field goal for the next 5 minutes, 50 seconds as Garden City stormed back with a 15-2 run to take a 46-44 lead with 13:21 to play.
The Dragons took the lead back for good with a 6-0 run – four Thornton free throws and a Dudley field goal – for a 50-46 lead with 11:21 to go. Aldridge buried a 3-pointer after an offensive rebounds to give Hutchinson a 58-53 lead with 8:03 left.
Leading 58-56, the Dragons grabbed control with a 7-0 run capped by a Jackson layup with 6:17 left for a 65-56 lead. Two Thornton free throws with 2:09 left gave the Dragons a 77-69 lead.
Garden City cut the lead to 79-76 with 32 seconds to play on back-to-back Smith buckets. Aldridge and Jackson hit a pair of free throws with 21 and 9 seconds remaining, respectively, to close out the win. Hutchinson was 18 of 19 from the free-throw line in the second half.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 145-51 all-time vs. Garden City, which includes a five-game win streak over the Busters. … This was all-time win No. 1,930 for the Blue Dragons. … The 26 free throws were a season high for the Dragons. … Jaquez Thornton‘s 12 free throws were an individual and team season high. … The Dragons are 7-3 this season when leading at halftime. … D.J. Dudley surpassed 300 career points, now with 312. … Bo Aldridge’s seven free throws were a season high. … Outscored 52-47 in the second half, this was the sixth time the Dragons have been outscored in the season half this season.
