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Cold Shooting Cloud County Men's Basketball Team Falls at Home to Fort Hays Tech Northwest

Syncere Burnette vs FTNW
Syncere Burnette vs FTNW

The Cloud County Community College men's basketball team was defeated 81-59 by Fort Hays Tech Northwest in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play on Saturday, February 1 in Arley Bryant Gymnasium.

The T-Birds have fallen to 10-12 overall and 4-12 in conference play with the loss. Fort Hays Tech Northwest has won their third straight game to improve to 8-12 overall and 6-10 in KJCCC action, earning a split of the regular season series with the T-Birds.

Freshman forward Elidjah Savane led the way for Cloud County in the loss. Savane had 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting while going 9-of-16 from the free-throw line. Savane also had seven rebounds.

Freshman guard Syncere Burnette added 14 points with four made three-pointers in the second half. Burnette also tallied five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Burnette's backcourt mates, redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller and freshman Kuel Akot finished with nine points and five points, respectively.

Redshirt freshman Matthew Garber did not score, but led Cloud County on the glass with nine rebounds.

Cloud County ended the afternoon shooting 27.1 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from behind the arc. Fort Hays Tech Northwest shot 42.7 percent overall and 30.0 percent from deep with nine made three-pointers.

Fort Hays Tech Northwest outscored the T-Birds 42-20 in points in the paint, 17-4 in fast-break points, and 43-12 in points off the bench. Eleven players scored for Fort Hays Tech Northwest, with three in double-figures. Sophomore Idris Williams had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman John Troolin also posted 15 points with four treys, while sophomore Chase Harris added 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Cloud County scored the first basket of the game before falling behind after a three-pointer by Troolin just 25 seconds into the game. Fort Hays Tech Northwest never trailed again. Fort Hays Tech Northwest captured its first double-digit lead of the game at 23-12 on a layup by Harris with 8:49 to play. Fort Hays Tech Northwest maintained a double-digit advantage for the rest of the half, leading by as many as 17 points, before ultimately taking a 38-26 advantage into the locker room.

The T-Birds looked poised to make a run, trimming Fort Hays Tech Northwest's lead down to eight points following two three-pointers by Burnette in the first two minutes of the second half. Fort Hays Tech Northwest responded, however, with a 21-7 run to push their lead out to 22 points at 61-39 with 9:03 left to play. Cloud County only got as close as 16 points the rest of the way while Fort Hays Tech Northwest led by as many as 28 points with just over four minutes remaining.

Cloud County has lost four straight. The T-Birds will look to bounce back when they host Colby Community College on Wednesday, February 5 at 8 pm.