15th ranked Cougars come from behind in fending off Dodge City #GoBarton

Playing from behind for nearly thirty-five minutes on Hall of Fame Saturday, the 15th ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team owned 'clutch time' in fighting off the upset bid prevailing 93-79 hosting Dodge City Community College.

The Conquistadors' opening five points kept the visitors top side, leading by six at the break before stretching the margin out to eleven points with the last coming with 10:57 remaining.

Barton kept chipping away at the deficit, clawing to within four until unleashing a two-minute, 9-0 run resulting in a five-point lead and all the momentum with 4:25 left. Holding the Conquistadors without a field goal from the 6:23 mark to 1:00 remaining, Barton outscored Dodge City by fourteen in the stretch with its largest lead of fourteen coming on the final score registering its sixth straight victory of the series.

The Cougars move into sole possession of second place at 15-5 improving to 21-5 overall while Dodge City slides to 7-12 in the league and 10-15 on the season.

Following a bye in the schedule, Barton's next game comes Saturday in Goodland for an 8:30 p.m. (CT) tip at Fort Hays Tech Northwest. The Cougars will then return for their last regular season home contest on Wednesday, February 26, hosting Colby Community College.

Six Cougars reached double figures being led by Brent Moss' 21-point, 15-rebound effort for his 12th double-double of the year while adding 3 assists and 3 blocks.

Aris Rodriguez contributed 15 points, Eltramon Smith, Jr. added 13 points and 8 rebounds, Sebastian Muchitsch with 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Keandre Kindell's 2 points were bolstered by a game high 8 assists in rounding out the starting lineup contributions.

Leading the Cougars' 13-point bench play advantage was Fontaine Williams' 14 points and 3 assists while Lucas N'Gombo tied a career high 10 points. Lyna Brooks, Jr., who gave the Cougars a big lift shortly after the halftime break, added 6 points combining with Williams for 4-of-7 arc buster shooting.

Dodge City's Mynor Strong poured in a career high 29 points including 5-of-6 long distance shooting with a game high 4 steals. Derrick Rivers and Keshawn Brown, Jr. contributed 13 points each as Jamari Gamble added 12 points and a team high 8 rebounds.