Broncbusters survive Pratt behind Hunter's near triple double

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-There were plenty of anxious moments on Monday night, none of which helped Bill Morosco's rising blood pressure.

In the end though, Garden City pushed across the finish line despite stumbling out of the blocks.

Tone Hunter flirted with a triple double, posting 27 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, Josh Nwankwo canned four triples off the bench, and the 16^th-ranked Broncbusters held on to beat Pratt, 102-99 at Conestoga Arena.

"We just didn't play to our standard," Morosco said afterwards. "We took a lot of poor shots. We took way too many outside shots and did not put enough pressure on the rim. Then we let our offense affect our defense."

The Broncbusters shot just 39 percent, ending a streak of eight straight games in which they were over 40. They were also outrebounded 44-42 and allowed Pratt to shoot 53 percent from the floor.

"It wasn't the normal effort that we give defensively," Morosco said. "We didn't do a good job of rotating and stopping the ball."

Garden City was a step slow for most of the night, and when Quintin Metcalf easily made his way to the rim, Pratt had a 66-57 lead with 15:19 to go.

Something had to give.

"At some point, these guys have to have a sense of urgency," Morosco added.

Heru Bligen started the rally with a pair of free throws, Hunter completed a three-point play, and Nwankwo hit an off-balance floater to pull the Broncbusters to within one, 74-73 with 11:29 to play. That was followed by Nwankwo's dazzling and-1 layup, Hunter then drilled a 3-pointer from the wing, and Mo Diarra threw down a vicious two-handed dunk in transition, completing a 22-point swing that turned a nine-point deficit into a 96-83 advantage with 4:01 remaining.

"It was definitely a nervous last few of minutes; that's for sure," Morosco said.

Any thoughts of coasting to rest of the way were quickly extinguished by Pratt, which answered with a 13-3 run capped by Tommy Thomas's reverse layup, trimming Garden City's once 13-point cushion down to three, with 47 seconds on the clock.

"We should have finished the deal earlier in the game," Morosco said. "We should have put them away."

Even after Hunter's two made free throws pushed the lead back to five, the Broncbusters weren't out of the woods. Harrison Eghan answered with a three-point play to make it 101-99. Moments later, Nwankwo was called for a questionable five-second violation on the inbounds.

"We tried to give the game away at the end," Morosco said. "We can't make mistakes like that in crunch time."

Garden City dodged a couple of bullets in the final 20 seconds when Cam Morris missed a game-tying jumper and Hunter saved a potential turnover in the backcourt before Thomas fouled him. The freshman hit 1-of-2 free throws, Thomas's desperation 3-pointer fell short, and Garden City won for the 13^th time in their last 14 games.

Hunter finished 9-of-21 from the floor for the Broncbusters, which improved to 11-3 on their home floor. Diarra tallied 13 points and seven rebounds, and Micah Octave had 11 points, seven boards, and three steals.

Thomas and Nasan Ayala combined for 42 points on 17-of-34 shooting. Eghan had 16, and D.J. Bailey totaled 14 points and four assists.

"Survive and advance is how I explained it to these guys," Morosco added. "But we have to get better."

Garden City could never break free in the first half even after Bligen's finger roll put the Broncbusters up 31-23 with 9:55 remaining. Pratt responded, and Ayala's two-foot banker with four seconds to go polished off a 24-15 surge that had the Beavers up, 47-46 going into the locker room.   

Next up: Garden City at Cloud County-Wednesday, Feb. 16-8 p.m.