Garden City evens the score; takes down Barton in Great Bend

Great Bend, KS-Buru Naivalurua is enjoying his best stretch of the season. 

The freshman was spectacular again, scoring 26 points and pulling down 16 rebounds, Jaborri McGhee added 25 points, and Garden City enacted some revenge with an 86-81 victory over Barton Wednesday night at the Kirkman Center. The Broncbusters improved to 13-5 overall and 8-5 in conference, moving within a game of Coffeyville for second place in the Jayhawk. 

Naivalurua was unstoppable at times, using his patented fallaway jumper, to the tune of 9-of-13 shooting. He also added two blocks in 39 masterful minutes. 

The Broncbusters won for the second straight year in Great Bend despite Cougar Downing's offensive assault. The sophomore scored 23 points on 8-of-14 from the field, singlehandedly keeping Barton alive down the stretch.   

After a slow start had Garden City down 13-6 five minutes into the game, Rusty Elmore's team flipped the script. McGhee's second-chance bucket followed by Boston Harker's corner 3 made it a two-point game. Moments later, McGhee completed a three-point play, Naivalurua hit a spinning 10-footer, and the Broncbusters were up 20-13 thanks to a 14-0 run over a three-minute stretch. 

But the Cougars answered resoundingly with a 9-2 surge that tied the game at 22. It was all even at 37 at the intermission. 

"I thought defensively we played really well," Head Coach, Rusty Elmore said. "That's where it all started." 

It also helped that the Broncbusters had 19 second-chance points and outrebounded the Cougars 32-25. 

"We are just trying to be consistent," Elmore said. "Once we reach that level, we feel like we can play with anyone."

Naivalurua rattled home a turnaround in the paint, Harker swished a pair of corner 3s, and David Elliott splashed home a triple from the left wing, putting Garden City in front 51-46 seven minutes into the second half. McGhee followed with a teardrop in the lane and a 12-foot jumper, and Elliott, who took advantage of a major second-half mismatch, easily rose over 5-10 guard Amir Ndayisaba for a triple, giving the Broncbusters their largest lead of the night, 63-54 with 8:39 to go.  

"We felt like we let one slip away the first time we played these guys," Elmore added.  

The Cougars kept things close for much of the second half, pulling to within one on Cooper Jackson's made layup with 4:51 to go. But Naivalurua, as he did all night, answered with a three-point play on the other end; then hit a contested 2 in the paint, Harker connected from deep, and Garden City was up seven. After Jackson's four-point play cut the lead back down to three, McGhee and Elliott put the game away with six free throws over the final 48 seconds, giving the Broncbusters their sixth win in their last eight games  

Harker poured in a season-high 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting for Garden City. Elliott, who was plagued by foul trouble for most of the game, chipped in 13. 

Jackson scored 21 points for Barton, which lost for the first time in two weeks. Aime Rutayisire had 11 points and four boards.