CONCORDIA, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College’s fifth second-half comeback to win a games was also the largest comeback win of the season on Saturday.
Jaquez Thornton and Khalil combined for 32 points in the second half as the Blue Dragons rallied from 16 points down to end the first semester on a three-game winning streak in a 77-73 KJCCC victory over Cloud County at Arley Bryant Gym.
The Blue Dragons improved to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in the KJCCC. Hutchinson will open the second semester on Saturday January 4 at 4 p.m. against Cowley at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. Cloud County dropped to 9-5 overall and 3-5 in the KJCCC.
Hutchinson had a tough offensive start shooting just 28.6 percent and trailed Cloud County 40-26 at halftime. Trailing 42-26 just 16 seconds into the second half, the Blue Dragons hit seven 3-pointers and shot 56.7 percent in the second half as the Blue Dragons outscored the Thunderbirds 51-33 in the final 20 minutes to complete its fifth second-half comeback of the season.
Thornton scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. Thornton was 8 of 13 shooting overall, knocking down 3 of 5 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 from the free-throw line. Thornton added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Arnold posted a career high for the third time in the last five games with 18 points, scoring 11 points in the second half. Arnold was 5 of 10 shooting with three 3-pointers and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Isaiah Jackson had his second double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high-tying 13 points. D.J. Dudley finished with eight points and Mikhail Abdul-Hamid had seven points.
The Blue Dragons closed shooting 43.1 percent (25 of 58), hitting 8 of 24 from 3-point range and 19 of 27 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Cloud County 35-33 and had 15 assists to only nine turnovers and seven blocked shots.
Keyon Garrett-Miller had a team-high 20 points to lead Cloud County. Elidjah Savane had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Cloud County shot 48.3 percent (25 of 58), going 8 of 21 from 3-point range and 9 of 15 from the foul line. The T-Birds had 11 turnovers.
The Thunderbirds raced out to leads of 9-0 and 17-4 in the first 4:43 of the game. Arnold stopped that initial surge with a 3-pointer with 14:57 left, cutting the Dragon deficit to 17-7.
The Dragons got the lead to single digits on five different occasions. Leading 35-26, Cloud County scored the final five points of the half to lead 40-26 at halftime.
Savane scored with 19:44 left in the second half to give Cloud County its largest lead of the game of 16 points at 42-26. From that point, the Dragons held the Thunderbirds to no field goals and just three free throws over the next 6:35. Thornton’s fast-break layup capped a 17-3 Hutchinson run to pull within 45-43 with 13:09 left in the second half.
Two Thornton free throws with 9:51 remaining tied the game for the first time at 52-52. The Dragons also tied the game at 60-all and 62-all before taking its first lead on a Dudley layup with 6:12 to play for a 64-62 lead.
Thornton’s pull-up jumper in the paint capped a 12-2 Hutchinson run for a 69-62 lead with 3:50 remaining. Cloud County got the game to a one-possession lead at 76-73 with 9.8 seconds left. Thornton’s free thro with 3.9 seconds left clinched the victory.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons tied a season high with its three-game winning streak. … The Dragons are 59-21 all-time against Cloud County, including 19-16 in games played in Concordia. The Dragons have won four-straight games over the Thunderbirds. … The Dragons had their fourth game of 10 or less turnovers. … Jaquez Thornton surpassed the career 400-point mark with 416 points. He had his fifth 20-point game of the season. … Bobby Cannon had four blocked shots, his fifth game of three or more blocks this season.
