Olayinka's double-double leads Garden City past Pratt
Garden City KS-This was Larry Olayinka's night.
The freshman posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, David Elliott chipped in 17 points, and Garden City took down Pratt, 73-67 Wednesday night at Conestoga Arena. The Broncbusters improved to 10-4 overall and 5-4 in the Jayhawk.
Garden City, which used a seven-man rotation, shot 47 percent from the field and 4-of-14 from 3. They outrebounded the Beavers, 31-28 and turned 19 Pratt turnovers into 24 points.
The Broncbusters had a chance to put this one away with less than 10 minutes to go. Boston Harker drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner, DaJion Humphrey hit 1-of-2 from the line, and Jaborri McGhee swished a 15-footer before driving around two defenders for a layup, giving Garden City a 60-51 advantage with 9:08 to play. But the home team went stone cold, yielding just one basket over the next five minutes, and once Aviel Palmer skied for a two-handed jam off a beautiful pass from Jaylen Davis, Pratt was within three with 7:38 to go.
But unlike the Cowley game before the Christmas break where the Broncbusters failed to hold a late lead, Rusty Elmore's team did just enough down the stretch. Olayinka fed Buru Naivalurua for a layup; then splashed home two free throws with just over three minutes remaining. Humphrey followed with a shot-clock buzzer beating triple from the left wing, and McGhee stole the ball from Quintin Metcalf before soaring for a right-handed jam that put Garden City ahead, 69-62 with 1:59 on the clock.
McGhee tallied 12 points and eight rebounds for Garden City, which won for the third time in their last four games. Humphrey scored 12 points in 38 minutes, and Naivalurua had seven points and six rebounds.
Metcalf paced the Beavers with 16 points and nine rebounds.