8th ranked Cougars shake off slow start to pull away from Northwest Tech 71-48 #GoBarton

It took the 8th ranked Barton Community College men's basketball team about ten minutes to find its grove Wednesday evening before outscoring Northwest Kansas Technical College by twenty-four points the rest of the way for a 71-48 victory at the Barton Gym.

The Cougars took their first lead on Stefan Spray's breakaway dunk with 9:25 on the first half game clock, later holding the Mavericks without a field goal for the final six minutes in building a 35-21 halftime advantage.

A 7-2 start coming out of the locker room continued the momentum in keeping Northwest Tech from slicing the deficit any closer than fifteen points with Christian Bowen-Webb's three-pointer with 4:50 remaining giving the Cougars' its largest lead of the night of twenty-five points.

Barton's 12th straight win in the series improves the Cougars to 5-1 in league play and 11-1 overall while Northwest Tech falls to 0-5 in league and 3-7 on the season.

The Cougars wrap up the pre-holiday break schedule on Saturday in Liberal with a 4:00 p.m. tip at Seward County Community College.

Ten Cougars found the scoring column in being led by the reigning two-time KJCCC Player of the Week Lajae Jones in scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for his 4th double-double of the season.

Keandre Kindell joined Jones for game high 11 point honors to lead Barton's 17-point bench scoring advantage.

Ring Malith and Myles Thompson each added 10 points while Brent Moss and Bowen-Webb each contributed 9 points giving the Cougars additional sparks off the bench.

Barton forced 25 Maverick turnovers on the evening, Malith coming up with a career high 4 steals while Cooper Jackson recorded 3 steals in just eight minutes of court time.

Northwest Tech put eleven players in the scoring column as the balanced output was led by Keyishon Miller's 9 points and 4 assists. Amar Lane led the Mavericks to a plus-1 edge on the glass with 7 rebounds as Miller, Taiden Conner, and Charles Fofanah each recorded 6 boards.

SERIES NOTES
- Barton has won the last 12 meetings
- Third time Barton has won by 23 points, the most came in 2021 in a 24-point victory
- Barton leads the series 7-1 at Barton Gym
- Barton leads the overall series 15-1

Record Book Watch
Cooper Jackson
- 143 career steals *4th most – 4 behind Jason Carter (2000-02)