Broncbusters roll; snap seven-game skid in the process

By Mike Pilosof

Goodland, KS-This game was absolutely long overdue.  

Michael Frazier poured in a career-high 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting, Tahlik Chavez scored 18, and Garden City snapped a seven-game losing streak with an 88-69 rout of Northwest Tech Saturday night at Max Jones Field House.

"It feels good," Head Coach Patrick Nee said afterwards. "We've had some winnable games but just haven't figured out a way to close games. Tonight we did."

The Broncbusters earned their first victory since Nov. 27, and did so without the services of starting point guard Kaleb Favors, who missed the game with flu-like symptoms. It was also the program's first-ever win over Northwest Tech.

"We made it interesting for a little while, but did enough to get it done," Nee added.

Garden City never trailed, building an early 12-point advantage once Kyler Lamb, who played in only his second game of the season, splashed home a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Broncbusters a 23-11 advantage 10 minutes in. But Northwest Tech kept things interesting. Pierles Brown and Justin Berry hit back-to-back 3's, and Fred Yana got free for an easy layup, cutting the deficit to one, 30-29 with 1:31 left in the half.

"I don't think we played very well at all, but it tells you something that even though we didn't, we found a way to win the game."

Garden City pushed the lead back to five at the intermission following Mason Osborne's corner 3. Then, in the second half, the offensive pyrotechnics, which have been missing for nearly two months, finally showed up.

The Broncbusters used a 15-5 run to push the lead back to 12. Moments later, after Naj Ashley-Emory missed a 19-foot pullup from the left arc, Daishaun Woods came flying in for a tap-back throwdown that had everyone on the bench standing. Two possessions later, Derrick Bryant lobbed a perfect pass to Steven Samuels, who finished off a fantastic alley-oop with a thunderous two-handed slam that gave Garden City a 56-40 advantage with 12:37 remaining.

"We want to try and separate ourselves from these teams at the bottom of the league," Nee said. "Our goal is still to finish in the top four and have a home playoff game."

The Broncbusters kept attacking. Frazier added a three-point play followed by a floater in the paint, and Traylynn Spencer, who missed his first nine shots, put home his first field goal of the night with a transition dunk that put Garden City up 66-47 with 8:15 to go.

Northwest Tech made one final run, scoring 11 straight points, which was capped by Tadas Baracevicius's triple from the left wing that sliced the margin to eight, 66-58 with 6:31 on the clock. But Garden City quickly restored order. Samuels banked home a layup, Spencer finished off a three-point play; then nailed a 3 from the right wing, and Garden City closed the game on a 12-4 run, building their lead to as many as 21 on Frazier's final field goal of the night with 10 seconds remaining.

The Broncbusters shot 32-of-63 from the field (51 percent) the seventh time this season they've shot 50 percent or better. Chavez was 6-of-13 shooting, and Spencer tallied his fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Reece Warren cashed in 21 points and hit 4 3's for Northwest Tech, who lost their 16^th straight game to an NJCAA opponent and 10^th straight overall.

Next up: Garden City vs. Butler-Monday, Jan. 20-7 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app