Cougars drop conference opener at Seward County

Cougars drop conference opener at Seward County 
The Barton County Community College men's basketball team dropped its first game back from the Holiday break, falling to Seward County on the road, 80-59.

The loss was just the second of the season for the No. 3 ranked Cougars (13-2) while No. 16 Seward County is now 14-1. The game was the Jayhawk West Conference opener for both teams.

Highlights
The Cougars and Saints battled back and forth early in the contest, but Seward County took over in the latter stages of the first half to build a 40-30 halftime advantage. The Saints then came out in the second half and started off with an 11-0 to push the margin to 51-30 and the Cougars played catch-up the rest of the night. Barton County could never get the game to single digits after that.

Robert Whaley led the Cougars with 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting, followed by Nouha Diakite with 11. The Saints were paced by Brandon Gay who scored 31 points, knocking down 9-of-12 shots including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc for the 6-8 forward. Gay also hit 10-of-11 free throws for the Saints. Devonne Giles added 16 points.

Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
The Cougars will open the home portion of the Jayhawk West slate Wednesday when Pratt visits. Tip is set for 8 p.m.

-30-

Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports