Naivalurua posts double-double; Garden City topples New Mexico Military again

Garden City, KS-There was definitely some built-up frustration for Buru Naivalurua, 

The freshman, who spent last season in street clothes after a COVID-19 shutdown in Australia delayed his arrival in the states, finished with a 16-point double-double, which included one of the most insane dunks in recent memory, DaJion Humphrey scored 22, and the Broncbusters moved to 3-0 with a 90-78 victory over New Mexico Military Tuesday night at Conestoga Arena. 

Naivalurua's put-back jam off a Logan Feltman missed 3-pointer with seven minutes remaining in the second half, was the culmination to an electric night inside Garden City's home gym. After Feltman's triple caromed off the back iron, Naivalurua, a foot outside the restricted arc, soared past Quentin Bolton, cocked back, and rattled the rim with a right-handed thump. It gave the Broncbusters a 77-63 advantage. 

"That was absolutely ridiculous," Head Coach, Rusty Elmore said with a smile. "Like holy cow, that got the crowd going. I felt in control after that. That guy is pretty special, and I'm glad the community got a chance to see that tonight."

The crowd, which was already in a frenzy, nearly lost it when the dunk was replayed on the video board. In the end, it was just the finishing touches to another perfect start for Garden City. 

"I really thought that we settled down in the second half," Elmore said. "We looked better offensively, and really got things moving."

It wasn't the Broncbusters best shooting night as they finished 31-of-68 from the floor (46 percent) and 9-of-31 from downtown (29 percent). But they were plus-13 on the glass (41-28), dished out 24 assists, and turned 20 offensive rebounds in to 26 second-chance points. 

"It wasn't perfect," Elmore said. "In fact, it really bothered me about the free throws that we missed down the stretch. Jaborri (McGee) was on the bench most of the night, and we still came away with a 12-point win."

McGee was the lone foul casualty of the night for the Broncbusters, who watched New Mexico Military shoot 28 free throws. But the Broncbusters blitzed the visitors in the second half, outscoring the Broncos, 51-40 over the final 20 minutes. 

In a first half that saw the lead change hands 13 times, Garden City, which trailed by six two minutes into the contest, managed to take a one-point edge into the locker room. All bets were off after that. 

Naivalurua began the second half with a 3-pointer; then buried two free throws before lobbing a perfect pass to Larry Olayinka for a two-handed jam. McGee followed with a 3 from the top of the key and a pair of freebies, Boston Harker scored five quick points including a triple from the wing, and Naivalurua nailed another long ball, igniting 20-7 surge that had Garden City ahead, 59-45 with 15:11 to go. The lead never dropped below 11 the rest of the way. 

"It was nice to have our full team together," Elmore said. "We had foul trouble, and I wasn't panicking. That's the best thing about it."

McGee, who fouled out after logging just 22 minutes, still finished with 18 points, seven assists, and five rebounds for Garden City. Harker added 12 points. 

Yanis Ndjonga paced the Broncos with 20 points and 11 rebounds.