Rare Off Night Leads to Tough Loss for Broncbusters
Garden City Community College mens basketball team hosted Cowley College on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at Conestoga Arena in Garden City, Kan. The Busters lost to the Tigers 66 - 74. Photo credits; Adam Shrimplin, Shrimplin Photography
GARDEN CITY, Kan. – Beating the best in basketball is hard, and it’s a lesson Garden City now knows all too well. Wednesday night was the third time the Broncbusters welcomed a ranked opponent to their home court, and the third time that they held their own throughout.
Unfortunately, it was also the third time it had fallen to an NJCAA Top 25 opponent by single-digits.
The Garden City Broncbusters fell short against the No. 10 Cowley Tigers, falling 74-66 at Conestoga Arena. The Broncbusters started both halves strong, leading by as much as nine in the second half, but couldn’t finish the job.
A constant issue for GCCC in their first three ranked home games was its opens. The Broncbusters went down 8-0 against Butler and 16-0 against Barton. Saturday’s opener was more of the same story, trailing 17-4 early against Cloud County.
Wednesday was different for Garden City (15-8, 11-6 KJCCC), racing out to an early seven-point advantage. Guard Braxton Jones scored his team’s first seven points, followed up by and-ones for Jordan Frazier and Elijah Roberts.
A game that featured two of the top five offenses, including the best two teams at limiting turnovers, was surprisingly sloppy throughout. Both teams combined for 17 turnovers in the first half, both shooting under 40 percent at the intermission.
Garden City led by five, 34-29, but never by anything substantial. Both teams went into their respective locker rooms knowing they had more to offer on the offensive end.
The second half was a role reversal for both squads. Garden City came in as a lights-out three-point team, while Cowley (20-3, 15-2 KJCCC) was top five in points in the paint. Weirdly, the teams that stats expected to see did not show up.
It was the Broncbusters who crashed inside, getting a lot of buckets in the paint. Forward Thomas Tut and Center Charles Chukwu combined for 20 of GCCC’s 32 second-half points. Tut had a few big shots in the early stages of the second, while Chukwu recorded some major slam dunks in the latter half. Both finished with double-doubles in the game.
Cowley was the team who could do no wrong from three. Guards Arzhonte Dallas and Damare Smith each nailed two triples late, pulling the Tigers ahead for good.
Garden City had no rebuttal, missing a season-worst 25 three-pointers. The Broncbusters picked the wrong team to have that performance against.
Garden City faces another ranked opponent on Saturday, visiting the No. 20 Butler Grizzlies. Coverage will be on 1030 AM and 107.1 FM KBUF immediately following women’s basketball’s 2:00 P.M. tipoff.
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