Cougars pull away late to win season opener over Fort Scott

The Barton Community College men's basketball team opened the 2013-14 season Friday capturing an 81-61 win over Fort Scott Community College in the first day of the Highland Hotel and Pizza Hut Classic.  The Cougars broke open a three-point game by outscoring the Greyhounds by seventeen points in the final ten minutes to get the victory.   The Cougars will wrap up the weekend Classic with a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday against Raleigh's Finest Sports Academy while Fort Scott will take on Butler Community College in the 3:00 p.m. game.

Darius Gibson made an impressive Barton debut leading all scorers with twenty-eight points including a near perfect 10-of-11 from the free throw line.  Point guard Tyler Corley scored fifteen while also having a near perfect night at the free throw line going 9-of-11.  Raheem Johnson also reached double digits with fifteen while adding a team high eight rebounds and five blocks, one of which ended up in the second deck of the Barton Gymnasium.

Kevin House led three Fort Scott players with nineteen to go along with a team high five assists while Dalton Rose and Jaylynn McCormack scored eleven and ten respectively.  

Butler Community College took the first men's game of the Classic scoring sixty-plus points in each half to win 125-75 over Raleigh's Finest Sports Academy.   Trent Richardson led six Grizzlies in double-digit scoring with twenty nine points. Ernest Burton scored fourteen, Sean Goodwin with twelve, and Shomari Triggs added eleven to go along with nine assists.  Calvin Johnson was the lone player coming off the bench to reach double-figures scoring ten points while Lamar Wofford-Humphrey scored nine points and led the Grizzlies with seven rebounds.

Jabar Ray led Raleigh with twenty-two points while Rontrez Purcell's eleven was the only other player to reach double-figures.