CONCORDIA, Kan. – Holding their opponent to the second-lowest scoring output of the season, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would tie their lowest-scoring total of the season while being held to 53 points in a 70-53 home loss to number-five nationally ranked Dodge City Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Monday, December 13th.
 
Falling to 7-7 overall through the first 14 games of the season, CCCC is now 3-5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Dodge City remains atop the conference standings at 7-0 while improving to 12-1 overall.
 
"When you look at the final box score, we had a lot of guys out tonight due to illness and injury which led to a lot of guys playing tonight and getting minutes tonight," said head coach Devin Kastrup in a post-game interview. "We had a few guys get in foul trouble which definitely hurt us even though I thought we did a good job once again on the defensive end." "Credit to Dodge City for making their free throws while we went 38 percent from the free-throw line, but we also saw the difference in the game coming down to them making 18 more free throws than us in a 17-point defeat." "With this being the last game before the break, it's always tough to be mentally prepared but I thought our guys battled for the first 15 minutes of first half before foul trouble found its way to us." "That was a really talented team that we faced tonight, but despite the loss I feel like we end the first half of the season on a solid note and that we are trending in the right direction."  
 
Trailing 4-2 after 1:45 of game action, Cloud County would see the Conquistadors add to their lead with a transition jump shot in the paint as the two points for the T-Birds would be all that CCCC would score in the first four minutes of the game. Coming off the bench and breaking a near three-minute scoring drought would be Zion Obanla to pull the T-Birds back within two before getting a fast break dunk to tie things at 6-6 with 15:20 remaining. Dodge City would bounce back by scoring five of the next seven points to go back up three at 11-8, but Cloud County would not go away in the first part of the opening half as things would be tied at 13-13 after 12 minutes of action.
 
Taking their one and only lead on a Corey Sawyer Jr. three with 8:12 remaining in the first half, CCCC would then see Dodge City use a 7-2 run to go back up 22-18 but respond with a Nate Duckworth layup to stay within two heading into the final five minutes of the first period. The Conquistadors would threaten to break things open by scoring the next six points and holding the T-Birds scoreless for nearly three minutes, but Joe Kearney would drive to the hoop and get a layup on a backdoor cut from Obanla to keep things at a six-point deficit. Finishing out the first half would be Dodge City however on an 8-1 run including the final seven points of the opening period as the six-point deficit would balloon to 13 and become a 36-23 score at the half.
 
Giving up an open three to begin the second half, Cloud County would find themselves in a 16-point hole before getting the ball in the second 20 minutes of action while needing to find a spark on the offensive end to try and cut into the lead. Scoring the next six points including five from Duckworth, the T-Birds would get back within 10 at 39-29 before cutting the deficit down to eight with 15:30 left in the game as the run would spark some life into the home crowd. Things would be short-lived however as Dodge City would silence Arley Bryant Gymnasium by going on a 6-1 run to go back up 13 at 47-34 with 12:20 left and threatening to break the game open.
 
Sawyer Jr. and Duckworth would have other ideas however as the duo would combine to score the next six points and get the T-Birds back within seven at 47-40 with still over 10 minutes remaining in the game as Cloud County would not go away quietly. The Conquistadors would continue to stay aggressive on the offensive end which would lead to eight straight points including four at the free-throw line to go back up 15 at 55-40 with another scoring drought finding CCCC.
 
It would appear as though things would begin to get out of hand with just under six minutes remaining in the game as DCCC would take their largest lead of the night with a three-point play to make it 60-41 before a 9-1 T-Bird run would get the deficit back down to 11 at 61-50. With just 3:56 remaining in the game and fouls starting to mount up, Cloud County would still face an uphill battle trying to get back into the game as the Conquistadors would score six of the next seven points and go back up 16 in the final minute while hitting five of their final six free-throw attempt to finish off the game.
 
With neither team shooting the ball well, the difference in the contest would come at the charity stripe as CCCC would go just five-of-13 (38.5 percent) from the free-throw line compared to a 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) performance from Dodge City as the Conquistadors would also hold a 45-32 advantage on the glass. As a team, Cloud County would shoot just 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the field and get just eight points off 14 DCCC turnovers while being outscored 9-5 in second-chance points.
 
For a third-straight game, Cloud County would be led by Duckworth who finished with 20 points and five rebounds. No other T-Bird would find their way into double-figures as Kearney would score nine points and grab five rebounds alongside Obanla who had eight points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Dodge City would get a game-high 23 points from Themus Fulks who went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line as three of the five starters reached double-figures and accounted for 50 of their 70 points.
 
What's Next?
A chance to get healthy and potentially have a full-roster available to them is the hope as Cloud County will be off for the next 22 days before returning to action on Wednesday, January 5th to take on a reeling Coffevyille Community College at 8 PM. The Red Ravens have lost five straight to fall to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the KJCCC after winning the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Title a season ago. The last time that Coffeyville lost eight or more games in a season came in the 2019-20 season while the Red Ravens haven't double-digit games since the 2016-17 season.