Garden City loses to NW Tech in the final seconds

Garden City, KS-With two seconds remaining on Saturday, Garden City was just moments away from capturing its fifth conference win of the season. But a lot can change in that amount of time; just ask Head Coach, Antwain Scales. 

Sarengbe Sanogo had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Tyjhanae Penny drained two free throws with less than a second to play, and Northwest Tech defeated Garden City, 75-74 at Max Jones Field House. The loss dropped the Broncbusters to 8-17 overall and 4-15 in conference play. 

It was a headshaking loss for the Broncbusters, who held the Mavericks to 34 percent shooting and 1-of-25 on 3s. But they were outrebounded 44-36 and surrendered 25 second-chance opportunities. They also turned the ball over 20 times.  

Garden City shot 40 percent from the field and fell just three free throw attempts shy of tying a 23-year-old mark, finishing 33-of-48 at the line. 

The Broncbusters were rolling at the start building a 12-point cushion following Dayshawna Carter's two free throws that made it 27-15 with 4:04 left in the second. But Garden City's offense stalled, the Mavericks responded with a 17-8 run, and when Alexzandria Thompson beat two defenders to the rim in the final seconds, the Broncbusters double-digit advantage had been sliced to three, 35-32 at the half. 

In the third, the Mavericks built a five-point edge when Sokhna Toure drained Northwest Tech's only 3-pointer of the game to make it 50-45. Garden City trailed by three going to the fourth.  

That's when the inexplicable happened.  

The Broncbusters appeared to flip the game after Carter's layup gave the visitors a 66-61 lead with 5:44 to go. But as they did in the second period, the offense went silent. The Mavericks came back to tie the game at 69 with less than three minutes remaining. After Garden City went back up by two following Ariyah Brooks' two free throws, a myriad of missed opportunities cost Scales' bunch.  

With the game tied at 73 in the waning seconds, Carter missed a go-ahead jumper. After the Mavericks failed to hit on the other end, Carter was fouled on a drive to the basket with 2 seconds to go. The sophomore missed the first free throw before rattling home the second. Then, following a Northwest Tech timeout, Keyhana Turner was called for a foul, which actually gave Scales a chance to look at how the Mavericks were setup. But seconds later, Carter fouled Penny on the baseline putting the Broncbusters over the limit. The freshman hit two free throws, and Northwest Tech completed the most improbable of comebacks.  

Carter tied a season high with 33 points and was 12-of-16 at the line for Garden City. Demi Black recorded her second straight double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Brooks chipped in 12 points.