No. 10 Dodge City upends Garden City

Garden City, KS-During Brad Witherspoon's four-years as an assistant under Craig Fletchall at Barton, the Cougars won 93 games. So, it's fair to say he's learned a thing or two about the inner workings of the Jayhawk Conference. 

It showed on Saturday. 

Jason Edwards scored 21 points, Chris Robinson added 20 and seven assists, and No. 10 Dodge City held off Garden City, 96-88 at Conestoga Arena. The loss dropped the Broncbusters to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play. 

"They're just a lot better than we are," Head Coach, Rusty Elmore said. "We have a lot to improve on before we play on Wednesday."

DaJion Humphrey scored 25 for Garden City, which shot 48 percent from the field as a team but was just 6-of-21 (29 percent) from 3. Buru Naivalurua added 20 points and 12 rebounds. 

"They were just tougher than we were," Elmore added. "They were smarter, and they made shots when they needed to."

The Conquistadors shot 49 percent from the floor and were 10-of-20 from beyond the arc. They also maximized possessions, turning it over just two times over the final 20 minutes. They had only six the entire game. 

"We have a long way to go," Elmore stated. 

Garden City played Dodge City relatively even for much of the first half, taking a 31-29 advantage after David Elliott canned a triple with 5:44 to play. But the Conquistadors answered with a 9-0 run. D.J. Jones went coast-to-coast for a layup, Robinson buried a trey, and Cam Mallory hit from deep to put Dodge City up by seven. They led 45-38 at the break. 

"Everyone was a step slow," Elmore said. "And you can't be that way against a good team."

The Conquistadors built their lead to as many as 22 in the second half, blitzing the Broncbusters with a 15-0 surge that made it 74-52 with 11:17 remaining. But the Broncbusters made things interesting countering with a 34-16 run over the next nine minutes that pulled them to within four after Aundre Polk knocked down a midrange jumper with 2:41 to play.

"We got back in it, but we should have never been in that position to begin with," Elmore said. 

That's as close as Garden City got. Robinson raced end line to end line for a layup, Humphrey missed on a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Jason Edwards sliced to the basket for 2 on the other end, putting Dodge City up by eight. 

All five starters scored in double figures for Dodge City, which improved to 9-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Jones had 18 points, six assists, and four steals, and Malray chipped in 16 on 5-of-11 shooting in 28 minutes. 

McGhee tallied 17 points and 10 assists for Garden City, which got only five points from the bench. Polk posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.