Trojans Drop Pair to Ranked Teams

The Colby Community College Trojans lost two Jayhawk Conference games in three days this week. Fifteenth-ranked Dodge City escaped the Colby Event Center on Feb. 22 with a 78-74 victory, and No. 23 Barton Community College cruised to an 84-65 win on Feb. 25 in Great Bend.

Colby got an early lead against Dodge, but the Conquistadors recovered and rolled to their biggest lead of the game by 10. They took a 36-29 advantage into the halftime break.

The Trojans battled back and went up by two with five minutes remaining. In a contest with eight lead changes, costly Colby turnovers down the stretch were the deciding factor after the Conqs switched to a zone defense.

Joshua O'Garro led all scorers with 30 points. Mike Bell added 19, while Anthony Sellars provided 13 off the bench.

Dodge got 29 points from Jason Edwards and 16 from Chris Robinson.

On the road at Barton, the Cougars used 22 Trojans turnovers and fired in 12 three-pointers to coast to victory.

Colby scored the game's first basket, but it was all Cougars after that as Barton opened up a 19-point first-half lead and took a 45-31 advantage into the halftime break.

Barton stretched the margin in the second half by capitalizing on Colby's blunders and creating opportunities from hustle plays. The Cougars outscored Colby 40-22 in the paint and 59-12 on second-chance points, points off turnovers, and fast break opportunities. Barton also outrebounded the Trojans 42-34. 

O'Garro led the charge for Colby with 19 points and six assists. Bell and Sellars were the only other Trojans in double figures, with 16 and 14.

Cooper Jackson had 16 points for the Cougars.

By Jake Moss