The 20th ranked Barton Community College men’s basketball team saw a double-digit road lead get away Tuesday night in Goodland, building a 15-point cushion midway through the second half before falling in the waning seconds 74–71 to Fort Hays Tech Northwest inside the Max L. Jones Fieldhouse.
Leading 39–34 at the break, the Cougars came out of the locker room hot, using a flurry of layups, a dunk and free throws to push the margin to 56–41 with 12:57 to play. Barton still led 63–55 with just over seven minutes remaining and 70–64 at the 3:02 mark, but foul trouble and turnovers shifted momentum. Two starters – Aris Rodriguez and Sebastian Muchitsch – fouled out during the closing stretch, and Fort Hays Tech Northwest capitalized with a 10–1 run over the final three minutes, stringing together a three-pointer, an And-1 within its pair of late layups and clutch free throws to steal its second straight home win of the series.
The loss drops Barton to 4–3 in Jayhawk Conference play and 9–4 overall, while Fort Hays Tech Northwest improves to 2–4 in league and 6–5 on the season.
The Cougars close the fall portion of the schedule on Saturday, hosting Garden City Community College in a 4:00 p.m. tip-off at Fleske Fieldhouse.
Noah Williams paced four Cougars in double figures with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding three rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Mikey Williams tied his career for the second straight outing providing 15 points off the bench with three rebounds, while Rodriguez finished with 13 points and four boards before fouling out from 21 minutes of action. Muchitsch turned in a strong all-around line with 10 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Barton shot 49.1% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc but went just 13-of-23 at the free throw line and committed 18 turnovers.
Fort Hays Tech Northwest shot just 37.7% overall and 30% from deep but converted 19-of-29 at the stripe and held a 36–31 rebounding edge.
The Tigers were sparked by Kaleel Kelly’s 21 points off the bench, including five three-pointers on 5-of-8 shooting, while Jeremiah Thornton added 9 points and Jasiah Shields chipped in 9 points in delivering several key plays down the stretch.
