Men's Basketball | 3/5/2025 10:43:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a road win, using a buzzer beater from freshman guard Syncere Burnette to defeat Pratt 80-79 at Dennis Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt, Kansas on Wednesday, March 5. Burnette's layup as time expired gave the T-Birds its second consecutive win and the series sweep over Pratt this season.

Cloud County rallied to erase a 15-point first-half deficit to pick up the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference win.

Pratt led 36-21 following a pair of free-throws by freshman forward Ajiet Akot with 2:31 remaining in the opening half. The Beavers outrebounded the T-Birds 26-13 and limited Cloud County to 32.3 percent shooting from the field in the first-half. Burnette scored five of the final seven points for Cloud County, and the T-Birds trailed 40-28 heading into halftime.

A three-pointer by sophomore guard Fallou Koite narrowed Pratt's lead to single-digits at 44-35 with nearly two minutes gone in the second-half. Cloud County then engineered a 15-9 run to bring the game back to a single-possession at 53-50 after a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Matthew Garber with 13:06 to go. Pratt redshirt freshman Hunter Vaughn answered at the other end of the floor with a trey to give Pratt a six-point lead again at 56-50.

The T-Birds continued to chip away at Pratt's lead over the next four minutes, tying the game at 61-all on a basket by freshman Takeo Moore with 9:02 to play. But a jumper by freshman Joseph Oparaeke and a triple by freshman Galvin Luketa tilted the lead back to Pratt, 66-61, with 8:08 remaining.

An and-1 from redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller and a jumper by freshman Dejuan Graise tied the game at 66-all. Following a pair of free-throws by Oparaeke, Garber drilled a three-pointer to put the T-Birds in front at 69-68 with 6:39 left in regulation. It marked the first lead for Cloud County since the 12:15 mark of the first-half.

The contest featured one tie and two lead changes over the next five minutes, setting the stage for the late-game drama.

A jumper by sophomore guard Jarrett Dingle allowed Pratt to regain the lead at 76-75 with 43 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Cloud County recorded two offensive rebounds, the latter of which set up Garber for his fourth three-pointer of the second-half, and Cloud County led 78-76 with 19 seconds to go.

Vaughn buried his third three-pointer of the night with 5.1 seconds remaining, giving Pratt the lead again at 79-78.

Following a timeout, Cloud County put the ball in the hands of Burnette for the final shot. Burnette drove the length of the floor, scoring on a layup from the right block as time expired to secure the last-second win.

Burnette led Cloud County with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go along with four assists. Freshman Elidjah Savane added 21 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Garber was also in double-figures with 17 points off five made three-pointers and four rebounds.

Cloud County shot over 50 percent from the field in the second-half, including 60 percent from behind the arc. The T-Birds ended the night shooting 30-of-70 (42.9 percent) overall and 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from long-range. Cloud County also collected 17 points off turnovers.

Cloud County has concluded the regular season at 13-17 overall and 7-17 in conference play. The T-Birds will be on the road to open 2025 Region 6 Tournament play on Saturday, March 8 at 2 pm when they travel to Colby to face the Colby Trojans.