Men's Basketball | 12/11/2024 10:19:00 PM

Box Score A slow first half and red-hot shooting from three-point range from the Coffeyville Red Ravens led to an 84-68 road loss for the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play on Wednesday, December 11.

The T-Birds struggled out of the gate. After tying the game at 8-all on a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller with 12:48 remaining in the first half, Coffeyville masterfully constructed a 22-2 run, ending on three consecutive three-pointers by three different players, to grab a 30-10 lead wth 4:20 to go before halftime. Freshman guard Kaason Thomas added his third three-pointer of the opening half for the Red Ravens in the final minutes, and Coffeyville led 41-20 heading into the locker room.

Coffeyville continued to shoot well throughout the second half, pushing its lead out to 28 points at 50-22 on another made three-pointer by Thomas.

Cloud County then attempted to stage a furious comeback.

The T-Birds used a 27-11 run to cut Coffeyville's sizable lead in half at 61-47 with 9:07 remaining. Following a pair of free-throws by Coffeyville's Brian Griffith, Cloud County received two straight triples from freshman Syncere Burnette and sophomore Fallou Koite, whittling the deficit down to 10 points at 63-53 with 6:33 left to play.

Coffeyville dug deep and pushed back, putting together a 10-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from freshman forward Abdul Kuta to take a 20-point lead again at 73-53 with 3:54 to go.

A 10-4 run by the T-Birds brought them back to within 14 points with just under two minutes to play before Coffeyville was able to finish the game off at the free-throw line to earn the 84-68 win.

The Red Ravens finished the contest 30-of-69 (43.5 percent) from the field, 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) from three-point range, and 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) from the free-throw line to see out the game.

By contrast, Cloud County shot 26-of-61 (42.6 percent) from the field, including just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from behind the arc. The T-Birds lost the rebounding battle 42-37. Cloud County also had just nine points off turnovers compared to Coffeyville's 16.

Garrett-Miller paced Cloud County with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Freshman Elidjah Savane chipped in 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Burnette also finished in double-figures with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, making both of his three-point attempts, while Koite had seven points and eight rebounds.

Cloud County returns to action Saturday, December 14 when it hosts Hutchinson Community College at 4 pm in Arley Bryant Gymnasium. The contest will be streamed on the T-Bird Sports Network. The game will also be broadcast by 1390 KNCK and 98.3 FM with Austin McNorton calling the action.