The Barton Community College men's basketball team trailed for just two brief moments Wednesday evening on the road, grinding out a controlled 68–60 victory at Hutchinson Community College.
The fourth straight win inside the Sports Arena and third consecutive victory overall lifts Barton to 7–0 in Jayhawk Conference play and 15–8 on the season. Hutchinson, dropping its seventh straight, slips to 5–12 in league action and 10–13 overall.
Barton closes out its two-game road swing Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. tip at Pratt Community College before returning home Wednesday to host Fort Hays Tech Northwest.
The Blue Dragons briefly nudged ahead at 10–9 and again at 15–14 with 9:07 remaining in the opening half, but those leads were fleeting. Barton seized control over the next five minutes, rattling off a decisive 13–0 run to create separation. Hutchinson answered with four straight, but late three-pointers from Noah Williams and Blake Rucker sent the Cougars into the locker room with a 35–24 halftime cushion.
Hutchinson hung around through most of second half play, trimming the margin to five following a four-minute 6–0 spurt near the midpoint. That's when Jayden Ramirez provided the spark. The sophomore knocked down a three, converted an and-one off an offensive rebound, then added four more points to cap a personal 10–0 burst that rebuilt Barton's lead to its largest at 12 with 2:51 remaining. Rucker answered a Hutchinson triple with a dagger of his own at the 1:59 mark, and Barton calmly sealed the result by sinking 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch.
Ramirez led Barton's balanced scoring with 15 points and 7 rebounds, three coming on the offensive glass, helping Barton to a plus-16 edge on the boards and a 21-point bench scoring advantage. Williams rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points and 4 rebounds.
Four Cougars finished just shy of double digits with nine points apiece. Majok Chuol added six rebounds, Aris Rodriguez filled the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals, Rucker connected on both of his three-point attempts, and Brian Sullivan, Jr. chipped in five rebounds and three assists. Sebastian Muchitsch pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to go with five points, while Jon Byrd flirted with a double-double at seven assists and seven boards.
Daleron Thomas accounted for nearly half of Hutchinson's scoring, pouring in 29 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Bobby Cannon was the lone other Blue Dragon in double figures, finishing with 11 points and a team-leading seven rebounds.