Garden City loses conference opener; drops first game of the season

Garden City, KS-Garden City let one slip away on Wednesday. 

Sharpshooter Cooper Downing scored a game-high 26 points, Hannes Saar grabbed 13 rebounds, and Barton handed the Broncbusters its first loss of the season, 91-82 at Conestoga Arena. Garden City dropped to 4-1 overall and 0-1 win conference. 

"We just choked if you look at it," Head Coach, Rusty Elmore said afterwards. "We have no one to blame but ourselves. We had a chance to put this game away. Our guys have to get tougher."

The Broncbusters controlled the game for most of the night despite shooting just 44 percent. They attempted eight more free throws than Barton (36-28) and got 21 points from the bench. But they were out rebounded by nine and gave up 17 second-chance opportunities, which led to 19 Barton points. Garden City also turned it over 18 times. 

"They outplayed us down the stretch," Elmore added. "We better get this fixed."

Garden City rebounded nicely after falling behind early 5-0. David Elliott maneuvered to the rim, Boston Harker hit a free throw, and DaJion Humphrey connected on a contested jumper to give the Broncbusters a 22-17 advantage with 11:19 left in the half. They stretched it to seven later in the period after Elliott's layup made it 41-34. But the Cougars scored the final four points of the half to slice the Broncbuster lead to 41-38. 

"We have to take a long look at ourselves," Elmore said. "We hurt ourselves with technical fouls."

Things got interesting in the second half. 

Garden City was up 60-53 after Elliot's layup with 14:31 left before things started to shift. They went the next three minutes without a field goal, a stretch that saw them turn the ball over three times and miss three straight shots. Meantime Barton countered with a 10-0 run polished off by Downing's steal and layup that put the visitors up, 63-60. 

"We were careless with the ball in the second half," Elmore added. 

The Broncbusters responded again, this time with a 17-7 surge that turned a three-point deficit into a seven-point cushion once Jaborri McGhee drilled a 17-foot jumper to make it 77-70 with 6:25 on the clock. But it took less than two minutes for that lead to evaporate. Downing swished two free throws; then stole the ball before feeding Saar for a transition dunk, Howard Johnson rattled home a deep 3-pointer, and the game was tied at 79 with 3:59 to play. 

"We had our chances to put the game away, and we didn't do it," Elmore said. "We didn't take advantage of the opportunity."

Garden City never led again. 

Aundre Polk was called for a flop resulting in a Downing free throw, and Saar made a layup to stretch the lead to 82-79. Then, with the lead at one, the Broncbusters failed to secure two defensive rebounds: one off a Johnson missed layup and the other following a long 3-point miss by Saar. Joseph Locandro, who battered Garden City down the stretch, appeared to go over Polk's back for another offensive board. Polk was called for the foul, Locandro sank two free throws, and the Cougars closed the game on a 9-0 run. 

Downing finished 7-of-14 from the field for Barton, which improved to 6-1 overall. Saar had 20 points, and Locandro added 20 points and nine boards.