Men's Basketball | 1/29/2025 11:40:00 PM

Box Score Three players scored in double-figures for Cloud County, but the T-Birds fell to No. 22 Barton, 90-84, on the road Wednesday, January 29.

Cloud County was led by freshman forward Elidjah Savane who had 29 points and 10 rebounds for his eleventh double-double of the season, including his fifth consecutive double-double performance. Savane added five steals and three assists. Freshman guard Kuel Akot chipped in 18 points with three treys, while redshirt freshman guard Keyon Garrett-Miller finished with 15 points and four assists.

The Barton offense was very productive, shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from behind the arc, with nine made three-pointers. Barton also finished with a 40-27 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, Cloud County shot 50.0 percent overall but just 25.0 percent from three-point range, hitting on just 6-of-24 shots from deep.

The Cougars jumped out to a 24-14 advantage with 10:59 left in the first half. Cloud County answered with a 7-0 run, ending on a jumper by sophomore guard Roy Aviv, to cut Barton's lead down to three points at 24-21 with 8:03 to go. Barton soon built its lead back to ten points at 43-33 following a pair of free-throws from redshirt sophomore guard Fontaine Williams. A three-pointer by freshman Eltramon Smith, Jr. increased Barton's lead to 13 points at 46-33 with less than a minute to play before halftime. The Cougars did most of its first-half damage from behind the arc, connecting on 8-of-14 (66.7 percent) from deep through the first 20 minutes of play. Cloud County received back-to-back buckets from Garrett-Miller and Savane but entered halftime down 46-37.

Akot caught fire in the early part of the second-half, scoring 13 points with a pair of three-pointers through the first ten minutes of action. After Savane recorded layups on two straight possessions, the T-Birds found themselves down 63-58 midway through the second-half. Barton extended its lead back out to eight points at 69-61 following a jumper by sophomore James Parlow, Jr. The T-Birds then erased the Barton lead by piecing together a 10-2 run, highlighted by three-pointers from Garrett-Miller and freshman Dejuan Graise, to tie the game at 71-all with 5:42 to play.

An offensive rebound and stick back by Savane then gave Cloud County its first lead of the second-half at 73-71 with five minutes to play.

The game then featured three ties over the next two minutes.

Barton captured the lead again at 79-77 on a finish at the rim by sophomore guard Keandre Kindell with 2:48 remaining.

The T-Birds continued to fight, tying the game at 84-all on a three-pointer by freshman guard Syncere Burnette with 44 seconds to go.

Kindell scored on another lay-in to keep the Cougars in front at 86-84.

Cloud County had a chance to tie the game again, but went 0-for-2 on a trip to the free-throw line with 19 seconds to play.

Kindell tacked on four free-throws over the final 15 seconds to clinch the win for Barton.

Three players also scored in double-digits for Barton, led by Kindell's 16 points. Smith, Jr. added 15, while Williams finished with 14.

Cloud County got six points each from Burnette and sophomore guard Fallou Koite. Graise and Aviv added five points each.

The T-Birds return home to take on Fort Hays Tech Northwest in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play on Saturday, February 1 at 4 pm, part of homecoming and hall of fame weekend at Cloud County Community College.