Broncbusters lose final home game of the first semester

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-The Jayhawk Conference can test your sanity on a nightly basis. Just ask Bill Morosco.

Ethan Yancy scored 21 points, Myles Arnold added 20, and Northwest Tech snapped a five-game conference losing streak with an 82-76 victory over Garden City Saturday afternoon at Conestoga Arena. It was the Broncbusters fourth loss in their last five games.

The Broncbuster offense seemed out of sync all day, shooting just 38 percent from the floor and 3-of-18 from downtown (17 percent). It was the third time in their last five games that Morosco's bunch shot below 40 percent.

Tone Hunter had his worst shooting game of the year, finishing 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-6 on 3's. But he wasn't the only one who struggled to get anything to drop. Marko Dosen was 6-of-15, and Mo Diarra, who eventually fouled out, finished 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. It all added up to Garden City's lowest offensive output of the season.

The lead changed hands 13 times with Northwest Tech grabbing a seven-point cushion following Arnold's layup that made it 25-18 with 9:12 left in the half. Garden City responded with seven straight points, polished off by Dosen's triple that put the Broncbusters up two. But the home team, which struggled at times against Northwest Tech's 1-3-1 zone, could never create any real separation. Hantz Louis-Jeune beat Hunter off the dribble, and Arnold sank two free throws to give the Mavericks a 42-39 halftime edge.

Northwest Tech stretched that lead to five following a pair of freebies by Lino Manhom two minutes into the second half before the Broncbusters made their move. The Mavericks' bench was whistled for a technical foul, Hunter drained four straight free throws; then completed a three-point play in traffic, and Heru Bligen slipped a pocket pass to Diarra, who finished at the rim with two hands to put Garden City ahead, 54-48 with 13:16 remaining. Moments later, Hunter dropped a dime to Micah Octave for a beautiful reverse layup, and Jyre McCloud swished two free throws to give the home team its biggest lead of the night, 58-49 with 11:43 on the clock.  

However, the Mavericks kept coming. Back-to-back layups followed by Yancy's transition dunk cut the Broncbuster lead to three with 6:20 left. Then, the next time Northwest Tech had the ball, Yancy drifted to the corner and buried a triple. Louis-Jeune followed with a four-point play, Manhom easily got to the basket, and the visitors had a 72-69 lead.  

Even after Garden City reclaimed the advantage momentarily when Octave canned two free throws to make it 75-74 with 2:06 left, it didn't change the fact that the Broncbuster offense produced nothing down the stretch. Morosco's team was limited to just one field goal: a Diarra fallaway jumper in the paint, over the final six minutes of the game.

With things knotted at 76, Arnold, off a set play following a timeout, sprinted to the rim for a layup, Diarra was called for a travel on the other end, and Timothy Moore Jr. hit four clutch free throws to put the game away.

The Mavericks won despite a heavy dose of isolation, totaling just seven assists. But they shot 49 percent from the floor, were 4-of-7 on 3's, and 20-of-25 at the line.

Meantime Garden City missed 13 free throws (27-of-40).

Next up: Garden City at Cowley-Monday, Dec. 13-7:30 p.m.