Jayhawk Conference co-leader Barton Community College required four clutch free throws to edge the Colby Trojans 73-70, the last-place team. Jon Byrd converted two free throws with 8 seconds left and Jayden Ramirez added two charity tosses after a Colby turnover.
Aris Rodriguez rescued the Cougars with 26 points, 19 after halftime and a personal 10-run. Ramirez and Mbala added 11 apiece. Colby's D.J. Cason scored 20 points.
Barton (8-1, 3-0 Jayhawk) drops Colby to 2-7, 0-3 Jayhawk. The Cougars travel to No. 15 ranked Coffeyville Saturday.
Barton's bench delivered with Lazara Mbala adding 11 points and Pavel Inanov chipping in nine points.
Byrd added six points with a game-high five assists, one of which set up a Noah Williams powered dunk over a Trojan defender putting Barton up three with 2:12 left. Williams would lead the Cougars with 8 rebounds, helping Barton to a plus-nine rebound advantage, while adding 7 points and two assists.
Colby hit 6-of-15 from deep and 8-of-9 at the line to build a 34–28 halftime lead. Cason powered the Trojan attack off the bench with 20 points on 3-for-5 shooting from long range and a perfect 9-for-9 at the stripe. Aliou Diallo added 15 points with three triples, while Kellan Simoneau contributed 14 points on 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Barton limited Colby to 33% after halftime while converting 18-of-22 free throws and controlling the glass. The Cougars shot 22-for-54 (41%), 6-for-21 from three (29%), and 23-for-28 at the stripe (82.%). Colby finished 19-for-55 (34.5%) from the field, 11-for-29 from deep (38%), and 21-for-26 at the line (81%)
Colby 34 36 — 70
Barton 28 45 — 73
COLBY—D.J. Cason 4-9 (3-5) 9-9 20; Aliou Diallo 4-11 (3-7) 4-6 15; Kellan Simoneau 4-9 (3-5) 3-5 14; Agba 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0; Reece 1-4 (1-3) 0-0 3; Kats 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; Njenga 3-6 (0-1) 3-4 9; Allen (1-3) 0-0 3; Gillespie 0-3 0-0 0; Keutcha (2-2) 0-0 6; Totals 19-55 (11-29) 21-26 70.
BARTON—Rodriguez 26; Ramirez 4-6 3-4 11; Mbala 3-8 (1-5) 4-4 11; Muchitsch 0-3 0-0 0; Noah Williams 3-6 (1-2) 0-1 7; Byrd 2-3 (0-1) 2-2 6; Mikey Williams (0-1) 0-0 0; Spray 0-0 1-2 1; Eweka 0-1 0-0 0; Morton 1-1 0-0 2; Rucker (01) 0-0 0; Inanov 2-3 (1-1) 4-5 9; Totals 22-54 6-21) 23-28 73.
Rebounds—C 30 (Kats 4), BC 39 (N. Williams 8). Assists—C 12 (Cason 4), BC 11 (Byrd 5). Steals—C 10 (Allen 3), BC 9 (Rodriguez 5). TO—C 17, BC 16.
JAYHAWK MEN
Barton 3-0 8-1
Garden City 3-0 8-1
Coffeyville 2-1 7-1
Butler 2-1 6-3
Independence 2-1 4-4
Cowley 1-1 6-2
Hays NW 1-1 5-2
Dodge City 1-1 5-3
Hutchinson 1-2 6-3
Cloud 1-2 6-3
Seward 1-2 6-3
Pratt 0-3 3-5
Colby 0-3 2-7
11-25—Barton 73, Colby 70; Independence 88, Hutchinson 80; Cowley 95, Cloud 89; Butler 98, Pratt 91; Coffeyville 78, Seward 62; Garden City 98, Hays NW 95
11-29—Cowley at Colby; Pratt at Independence; Barton at Coffeyville; Dodge City at Cloud; Hays NW at Butler; Seward at Hutchinson
12-2—Hutchinson at Barton; Colby at Dodge City; Coffeyville at Cowley; Seward at Pratt; Butler at Garden City; Independence at Hays NW
