INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - The Independence Men's basketball team fell in a high scoring affair against nationally ranked Barton CC, Saturday evening, 110-93.
For the second straight game, the Pirates were a little bit shorthanded, playing without their leading scorer Chiante Tramble, but with a next-man-up mentality the Pirates battled all night long, but had no answer for Barton's high powered offensive attack in the second half. The game really came out of the gates at a bit of a slower pace, as three minutes in, each team only had one basket. The first half was very tightly contested as the lead changed hands a handful times. Indy had their largest lead of the game at the 1:05 mark in the first half, a seven point advantage as multiple technical fouls from Barton gave Indy four free throw attempts to help push their lead. Barton responded well after the technical fouls as they finished the half on 6-0 run to cut the Indy lead to one at the half.
The second half started with Indy quickly pushing their lead back up to five with four quick points from Trashuan Combs-Pierce and Tyland Holdman. Barton answered with a quick 15-4 run to take a six point lead. Barton would keep the game at bay with that six point lead for a few minutes before they broke through and took a double-digit lead with about 10 minutes left in the game. The Cougars would ultimately push their lead to 17 at the six minute mark, just short of their largest of the game. Ultimately Barton's offensive effeciency was too much for the Pirates in the second half as they shot 57% from the field in the half, leading to 65 second half points.
In a game that had a combined 76 free throw attempts, Indy cashed in on 28 of their 40 attempts, while Barton was 24 of 36 from the charity stripe. Barton won the rebounding battle at 52-42, and did have eight more points off of turnovers. Indy did have 36 bench points, led by Wilson, while Tyler Parks pitched in eight points, and Jahmari Hamilton-Brown had seven.
The Pirates did have four players finish in double figures led by Chris Dockery who had 23, along with 10 rebounds and four assists. David Wilson chipped in 18 points off of the bench, while Tyland Holdman and Cedric Dixon were the other two starters in double figures with 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Trashaun Combs-Pierce was limited due to foul trouble in the first half but finished with nine points, five rebounds, and had a team high three blocks on the defensive end.
Independence currently holds the 10th-seed in the KJCCC tournament with one game to go, against Fort Hayes Tech on Wednesday. The KJCCC tournament begins next weekend, and Indy will have to go on the road for the first round.