Men's Basketball | 2/20/2025 9:43:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team attempted to storm back in the second-half but their comeback fell short as the T-Birds lost to Garden City, 70-65, Thursday, February 20 at Arley Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia. The T-Birds were down by 10 points at four separate intervals in the first-half before fighting back to tie the game with just under two minutes to go but were unable to come all the way back.

Freshman forward Elidjah Savane led the T-Birds with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists. Redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Fallou Koite joined the pair in double-figures with 11 points and four rebounds.

Cloud County struggled offensively in the opening half, shooting just 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from the floor and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from three-point range while turning the ball over ten times. Garden City grabbed its first double-digit advantage at 19-9 at the 8:40 mark. The T-Birds cut the Broncbusters' lead down to six points on a three-pointer by freshman Dejuan Graise with 3:27 remaining, but Garden City maintained control and took a 31-23 lead into the halftime break.

The T-Birds opened the second-half on a 9-2 run, including four points from Savane, a jumper by Garrett-Miller and three-point basket by redshirt freshman Matthew Garber, to trail 33-32 with 17:51 to play. Garden City responded by scoring the next seven points to push its lead back out to eight points at 40-32.

After falling behind by nine points with under eight minutes remaining, the T-Birds put together an 8-0 run that included another trey from Garber, a dunk from Savane, and a traditional three-point play from Garrett-Miller, to bring the game back to a one-point contest at 51-50 with 5:25 to go. Garden City scored the next five points to extend its lead to six points at 56-50.

Cloud County still had one more run in them. The T-Birds went on an 8-2 run, capped by a three-pointer by Koite, to tie the game at 58-all with 1:44 to go.

On the ensuing possession, Garden City sophomore guard Josiah Sabino buried a triple to keep the Broncbusters in front. Sabino followed up his three-pointer with four straight free-throws, giving Garden City a 65-58 lead with 44 seconds to play.

Garden City's final nine points all came from the charity stripe, allowing the Broncbusters to hang on for the win and hand Cloud County its third consecutive loss.

Cloud County will return to action on Wednesday, February 26 when the T-Birds square off with Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas for a 7:30 pm conference matchup.