Chavez explodes for 42, but Broncbusters fall to Dodge in crazy finish

By Mike Pilosof

Dodge City, KS-At some point, you run out of superlatives to describe how good Tahlik Chavez is. His second-half performance vs. Dodge City will be talked about for quite some time.

The rest of the team, well, it wasn't good. Garden City fell down by as many as 24 against a program that had just two wins vs. NJCAA opponents. And in the end, it was another heartbreaking finish to what has turned out to be one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory.

Landyn Tyler poured in a season-high 28 points, Myron Washington added 14 and five boards, and Dodge City held on to beat Garden City 100-98 at the Student Activity Center on Saturday afternoon.

"We just flat didn't come out ready to play," Broncbusters Head Coach Patrick Nee said. "Guys were laying down during the women's game. I don't understand it."

The Broncbusters first-half performance will go down as one of the worst 20-minute stretches of the season. They missed eight of their first 10 shots, fell down 18 following two free throws by Kevin McGaskey; then watched the Conquistadors rip off nine straight points, capped off with two free throws by Tyler, that gave Dodge City a 54-31 lead with 1:53 to go in the half. But the backbreaker was yet to come; that happened in the final seconds after Garden City trimmed the lead to 19. Tyler, who had made only nine 3's all season, buried a step-back triple from the top of the key over Mason Osborne that had the home squad up 60-38 at the break. The Broncbusters meantime shot an abysmal 31 percent from the floor with Chavez and Michael Frazier combining to go 3-of-18.

"It's hard to explain what happened in that first half," Nee said. "We missed layups; we missed open shots; nothing was going in."

And it didn't seem like anything changed at the beginning of the second half. Mason Senigaur, who scored a career-high 25 points in the first meeting, knocked down a free throw and a layup, Quindarius Thomas got to the rim for 2, and Dodge City was in front 69-45 with 15:48 remaining.

"Give Tahlik all the credit in the world," Nee said. "Things weren't going his way in the first half, but boy did he turn it on when we needed it."

Chavez got loose for a 3; then fed Osborne, who canned a triple from the right corner to cut the lead to 18. Then with 10 minutes to go, the freshman guard went bonkers, draining a trey from 28 feet out. He followed that with two free throws and a driving layup, pulling the Broncbusters to within 15, 82-67 with 8:46 to go.

"Sometimes it's not fair to him how much we ask him to do," Nee said. "But he is so much better now compared to the beginning of the season. It's night and day."

Chavez kept coming, and his two-handed finish at the basket made it a 12-point game. He swished two more free throws, buried consecutive 3's, and the Broncbusters were within 10. Moments later, Chavez cashed in three freebies after being fouled on a 3-point attempt, Frazier nailed a triple from the top of the key, and Chavez finished off a three-point play that incredibly, had the road team only down four, 95-91 with 2:08 on the clock.

"He (Chavez) was fantastic; there is no other way to describe what he did for us in this game," Nee said.

And he wasn't finished.

The freshman added another long ball; then dropped in a deuce to make it a two-point game. After McGaskey split a pair of free throws on the other end, the Broncbusters had a chance to tie or win the game. With no timeouts, Chavez drove to the top of the key; then used a hesitation dribble to get around Jayden McGrew all the way to the rim. But his layup attempt was too strong as it slid off the front iron, giving the Conquistadors a season sweep of Garden City for the first time since 2017.

"We just didn't have the focus that we needed to come out and play well," Nee added. "It happens all the time."

Chavez scored 34 of his career-high 42 points in a dazzling second half, nearly pushing Garden City past the finish line by himself. He also grabbed 10 rebounds, tallying his third double-double of the season. But in the end, the Broncbusters lost for the 16^th time in their last 18 games.

Quindarius Thomas scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds for Dodge City, which snapped a six-game losing streak. They shot 51 percent, marking only the second time since Nov. that they were over 50.