HUTCHINSON, Kan. – After falling into a 10-2 hole to start the game, the Cloud County Community College would close to within four points with 14 minutes remaining before being limited to just 14 points in the final minutes to fall by a score of 73-52 on the road to Hutchinson Community College at the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas on Saturday, February 6th.

Cloud County has now lost three straight to fall to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Blue Dragons improved to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in KJCCC play through four games in the conference.

The T-Birds would win the opening tip and get the ball inside to sophomore David Acosta for a quick dunk and 2-0 lead, but that would be the lone bright spot for the T-Birds in the opening four minutes of action as Hutchinson would jump out to a 10-2 lead to force a CCCC timeout. The Blue Dragon lead would grow to double-digits seconds after the timeout as Cloud County would struggle mightily in the opening 10 minutes of the game to trail by a score of 18-6 at the first half media timeout.

Cloud County's first-half deficit would grow to as many as 15 at 28-13 following a Matt Mayers made jumper with 4:12 left before halftime, but the T-Birds would finally start to see some shots fall with a 9-2 run over the span of 2:11 to get within eight. Hutchinson would kill the momentum however in the final seconds of the first half as a triple from Jaden Okon would put the Blue Dragons back up double-digits at 35-24 at the halftime break.

Coming out of the break, Cloud County would go on a 7-2 run to put the pressure back on the Blue Dragons as Hutchinson would call a timeout to try and stop the bleeding with CCCC getting back within six at 37-31 with 16:33 left in the contest. The T-Birds would continue to cut into the HCC lead over the next two-plus minutes as Cloud County would get within four at 40-36 and again at 42-38, but the Blue Dragons would respond with a 12-1 run to push their lead back out to double digits and hold a 56-41 lead at the second-half media timeout with 9:12 left in the game.

Hutchinson would continue to add to their lead over the next 3:52 of action as the T-Birds would be limited to just two points in the span to go down by a score of 62-43. The score would get no closer than 14 in the final 4:29 of the game as CCCC would continue to struggle offensively and muster only 28 points in the second half to be held 38 points below their season average.

Going 11-for-27 from the field in both the first and second half, Cloud County would finish the game shooting 40.7 percent from the field despite going just four-of-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Free throw attempts would be limited for both squads as the T-Birds would go four-of-nine (44.4 percent) while the Blue Dragons would connect on eight-of-12 (66.7 percent) attempts.  Second chance points would also be a big factor for HCC as the Blue Dragons would outscore CCCC 13-5 in the category would also doubling up Cloud County 44-22 in rebounds.

Acosta would finish the game six-for-seven from the field to finish with 12 points while also grabbing a team-best six rebounds as Jack Doumbia would be the next closest T-Bird to double-figures with eight points. Eduardo Peralta-Garcia would add three assists to go along with five rebounds while Hutchinson was led by a 16-point outing from Majok Kuath.

What's Next?

The T-Birds will have back-to-back home games to try and get back on track as CCCC will welcome Pratt Community College to Concordia for an 8 p.m. game on Wednesday, February 10th. Pratt will enter the game with a 1-3 overall record and 0-3 mark in the KJCCC as the Beavers have lost three straight including a 91-60 home defeat to Butler on Saturday after opening the year with a win back on January 22nd.