Broncbusters fall short; lose to Coffeyville for second time

Garden City, KS-Coffeyville's length was on full display on Sunday. 

Nathan Johnson had 20 points, Jordan Wildy chipped in 15 and three blocks, and the Red Ravens pushed past Garden City, 74-68 at Conestoga Arena. The loss snapped the Broncbusters two-game winning, streak, dropping them to 13-6 overall and 8-6 in the Jayhawk. Garden City is now in a three-way tie for fourth in the conference standings. 

Wildy created problems all game long for Rusty Elmore's bunch. Late in the second half after Boston Harker's rim-rattling jam had the gym buzzing, the sophomore post, who transferred from Iona, made the defensive play of the night. With the Red Ravens leading by six with less than six minutes to go, Harker was wide open in the corner for 3. But Wildy, who was standing 10 feet away, closed strong, extending his 6-9 frame to block the sharpshooter's attempt. In all, Coffeyville had seven blocks while limiting Garden City to just 42 percent shooting.  

DaJion Humphrey had 18 points for Garden City but was just 6-of-16 from the floor. The Broncbusters finished 5-of-23 from beyond the arc. 

Despite some early offensive struggles, Garden City found their groove six minutes into the contest. Humphrey drained a pair of treys, David Elliott easily got to the rim for 2, and the Broncbusters had a 14-7 edge. But Garden City misfired on its next 12 shots, Coffeyville responded with a 15-4 run, and the Red Ravens were up 22-18. In fact, only Buru Naivalurua's spinning two-handed jam with five minutes to go, snapped the cold streak. 

The Red Ravens built their first-half lead to as many as five following Wildy's layup with 3:25 to play. However, Garden City kept it close, and Larry Olayinka grabbed Jaborri McGhee's missed layup and followed it with a two-handed slam to beat the first-half buzzer. The Broncbusters trailed 33-32 at the intermission. 

The second half though was Garden City's undoing. 

The Broncbusters missed on 11 of their 13 3-point attempts over the final 20 minutes and trailed by as many as nine after a Wildy jump shot and Hayden Brittingham free throw made it 43-34 with 15:45 to go. And every time Garden City made a run in the second half, the Red Ravens countered. After Harker's free throw cut it to four with 10:57 remaining, Landon Glasper answered on the other end with a wide-open corner triple. Later in the period, following David Elliot's jumper that pulled the Broncbusters within three, Nathan Johnson buried a 25-footer to make it 53-47. The Broncbusters never got any closer than four the rest of the way. 

Glasper finished with 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench for Coffeyville, which won its third straight game to improve to 16-4 overall and 10-4 in the conference. 

Naivalurua totaled 16 points and 14 rebounds