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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Friday, November 9, 2007
Sophomore Ken Bowman hit 8 of 10 shots from
the field and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the No. 14 Hutchinson
Community College men’s basketball team to a resounding 81-59 victory over
Seminole State College, which finished fifth in the nation last season, in
the Grand Prairie Hotel Classic on Friday night at the Sports Arena.
HCC shot better than 50 percent for the
second time this season, shooting a season-high 56.3 percent (27 of 48) for
the game. The Blue Dragons (2-2) led 41-33 after shooting a sizzling 70
percent in the first half (14 of 20).
Hutchinson took no chances against a strong Seminole State team (2-1) after seeing
leads in both losses last week in the Quarterback Classic turn into two
losses. A 10-0 Hutch run early in the second half gave the Dragons a 55-40
lead. The Trojans scored five straight points, but the Dragons responded
with a 12-1 run to push the lead back to 21 points with 8:39 to play in the
game.
“One of the things that we talked about a lot
this week was that we were outscored 46-37 in the second halves of games
this season,” HCC head coach Ryan Swanson said. “If we are up by eight
points and give up nine, we lose the game. We talked about not having a
let-up. We got a 15-point lead, went to our bench and it immediate went down
to 10. We brought the starters back with Lamar, and they sparked us.”
Hutchinson outscored Seminole State 40-26 in
the second half, holding the Trojans to a scant 24 percent shooting in the
second half (6 of 25).
Sophomore Lamar Falley provided a huge spark
off the bench for HCC with a season-high 14 points, hitting 3 of 7 3-point
goals. Sophomore point guard Bobby Maze had 13 points and seven assists.
Freshman Blake Bales added eight points.
The Dragons finished 6 of 18 from 3-point
range and 21 of 26 from the free-throw line. The Dragons still had 21
turnovers, to reach 20 or more miscues in three of four games this season.
Jerome Phillips scored 17 points to lead
Seminole State, which hit 6 of 18 from 3-point range and 19 of 29 from the
free-throw line. Dauntae Williams was next for Seminole with eight points.
The Trojans committed 21 turnovers.
There were three lead changes in the first
six minutes of the game, but when Maze hit a short jumper with 13:58 to play
in the first half. The Dragons went on a 22-13 run over the next eight
minutes, getting big 3-pointers from Falley, and freshman Austin Bond to
build a 33-22 lead with 4:08 to play.
Seminole scored six-straight points to pull
within four points with 2:20 to play, but HCC Freshman Derek Burgan dropped
a huge trey with 2:04 to go to push the HCC advantage back to seven. The
Dragons led 41-33 at halftime.
Bret Jackson’s 3-pointer with 17:43 to play
in the second half pulled the Trojans to within 45-40, but Hutch responded
with a 10-0 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes to quickly regain a 55-40
cushion after Falley’s jumper with 13:53 to play.
The Trojans pulled as close as 10 points on
five straight Garrett Steinmetz free throws. But HCC finished off the
Trojans as dunks by Bowman on back-to-back possession was part of a 12-1 run
that pushed the Blue Dragon lead back to 21 points at 67-46 with 8:38 to
play in the game.
“Coach told us at halftime to put them away,”
Bowman said. “Last week we had some good leads and we let times linger and
let them stay within four or five points of us and at the end of the game,
those teams played harder than us. Tonight we just kept stepping down on
them.”
The Blue Dragons close out the Grand Prairie
Hotel Classic with Northern Oklahoma-Enid at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
GAME NOTES
– Friday’s 22-point winning margin was the second largest margin of victory
in the all-time series with Seminole State. The record was 41 (106-65) in
1987. … HCC outrebounded Seminole 36-29. Sophomore Abdul Herrera had seven
rebounds and sophomore Henry Rogers had six. … Freshman guard Sam Edwards,
who was suspended indefinitely last week, was reinstated by the HCC coaches
on Friday. He played 12 minutes, 46 seconds and scored two points with three
rebounds, an assist and a steal. … The Blue Dragon bench chipped in 33
points against Seminole State.
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OTHER QUOTES
Head coach Ryan Swanson
On the play of Ken Bowman after picking up
his third foul …
He had one possession where I thought he
backed up and could have gotten in to get a rebound in the second half. He
played smart and stayed on the floor. He kept guys in front if him and by
doing that, he didn’t have to foul them.
Sophomore Ken Bowman
On playing with three fouls for most of
the second half …
I was a little concerned about my third foul,
but I played smart and didn’t pick up another one the rest of the game. I
didn’t get any stupid fouls after that. Coach told me to play smart and to
put my hands straight up and not give then angles to score.
Sophomore Lamar Falley
On getting every team’s best shot …
"We learned from our mistakes of last weeks.
Everyone’s going to go after us because we are ranked high, so we have to
bring our A game every game. You live and you learn. We weren’t as
aggressive last week as we were today. We were aggressive the full game. “
On finishing off the Trojans …
“Instead of relaxing with our lead, we kept
the pressure on them. Coach told us to put them away.” |
