DODGE CITY — The Barton Cougars knocked off Jayhawk Conference co-leader Dodge City 79-68 to drop the No. 15 ranked Conquistadors.
Barton (12-7, 7-6 Jayhawk) drops Dodge City (13-6, 9-4 Jayhawk) into a first-place tie. Barton returns home Saturday against Cloud at 7:30 p.m.
Noah Williams led the Cougars with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Muchitsch recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points, powered by 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds and three blocks. Rodriguez connected on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range on his way to a 17-point outing, while Byrd dished out a game-high six assists.
Derrick Rivers paced Dodge City with 21 points, connecting on 5-of-8 from deep, while Rickey Loftin II was the only other Conquistador in double figures with 18 points. Wesly Rosa led Dodge City on the glass with 15 rebounds while adding seven points.
The opening half featured a series of mini spurts by both teams, with Dodge City holding its largest lead of the night at two points near the 14-minute mark before Barton briefly stretched its advantage to six midway through the period.
A late three-pointer from Brian Sullivan, Jr. sent the Cougars into the break with a 35–30 lead, and Sebastian Muchitsch followed by burying another triple to open the second half, pushing the margin to eight.
Dodge City answered with four straight points, but that would be as close as the Conquistadors would get until late in the contest.
Barton responded with six unanswered points for its first double-digit lead, hovering around that margin before Dodge City's 7–0 run trimmed the deficit to five with 8:56 left.
Muchitsch's third triple of the night, tying his career high from beyond the arc, followed by Jon Byrd's steal leading to an Aris Rodriguez dunk, pushed the gap back out to ten with 5:11 remaining.
Fighting back on its home floor, Dodge City later mounted an 8–0 run to pull within 71–68 with 1:43left, but the Conquistadors would not score again. Six points from Noah Williams, highlighted by a crucial offensive rebound tip-in with 37 seconds remaining and capped by a final basket from Muchitsch, sealed Barton's 8–0 closeout to secure the victory.
Barton shot 40.3 percent from the field on 27-of-67 shooting to Dodge City's 38.1 percent, while the Cougars also made the difference at the free-throw line by converting 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) compared to the Conquistadors' 13-of-23 effort. Barton controlled the glass with a 43–38 rebounding edge and turned that advantage into a 17–13 margin in second-chance points. Both teams finished with 14 turnovers and
Barton 35 44 — 79
Dodge City 30 38 — 68
BARTON (12-7, 7-6)—Noah Williams 7-10 (0-2) 9-12 23; Muchitsch 7-17 (3-5) 2-4 19; Rodriguez 5-14 (3-7) 4-4 17; Byrd 0-2 (0-1) 1-2 1; Chuol 2-6 2-2 4; Ramirez 1-7 (0-2) 0-2 2; Nbala 2-3 (1-2) 0-0 5; Mikey Williams (0-2) 0-0 0; Sullivan (1-2) 0-0 3; Rucker 1-3 (0-2) 0-0 2; Inanov 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 27-67 (8-25) 17-24 79
DODGE CITY (13-6, 9-4)—Rivers 7-17 (5-8) 2-2 21; Loftin 8-14 (1-3) 1-2 18; Rosa 2-4 3-8 7; Johnson 1-9 (0-6) 0-0 2; Nurse 2-11 (03) 5-6 9; Mabry 1-2 (1-1) 1-2 4; Brodett 0-0 1-2 1; Rojas 3-5 0-1 6; Houston 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 24-63 (7-21) 13-23 68
Rebounds—BC 35 (Muchitsch 10); DC 36 (Rosa 15). Assists—BC 17 (Byrd 6); DC 15 (Nurse 5). Steals—BC 6 (Sullivan 2); DC 9 (Johnson 4). TO—BC 14, DC 14
