Unselfish play lifts Trojans over Pratt

Five Trojans scored in double figures as the Colby Community College men's basketball team took down Pratt Saturday night at the Community Building, 95-81.

"We needed a game where we put it all together at home," said Trojans head coach Rusty Grafel. "We had been sluggish it seemed the last two games at home."

The Trojans, now 17-8 overall and 13-8 in the Jayhawk Conference, showed why they lead the conference in assists by adding another 25 Saturday night. They shot 33 of 67 from the field (49.3%) and outrebounded the Beavers 49-29.

Grafel was also pleased with his team's defensive effort as the Trojans held the conference scoring leaders under their average of 92.5 points per game.

"Pratt is a tough team to play because all they want to do is outscore you. I felt like we executed our defensive plan and the guys did a good job of sharing the basketball."

 Ty Dalton led Colby with 24 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Other Trojans scoring in double figures were David Hall (21), Craig Beaudion (15) and Christian Carmichael (10). Da'Korey Somerville contributed 13 off the bench.

Pratt (11-14, 8-13) got 16 points from James Brooks. Asem Johnson, Clinton Bentley and Dawson Gunter also added 11 points each.

Colby looks to continue the momentum Wednesday in a 7:30 p.m. start at No. 17 Coffeyville (21-4, 17-4). The Trojans shocked the Red Ravens Dec. 10 in Colby after erasing a 17-point deficit to win 77-73.

"We only have five games left in the regular season and our goal is to host a sixth," Grafel said. "We need to finish strong down the stretch and continue to get better."