Hot Outside Shooting Propels Cloud County Men's Basketball to 101-90 Road Win Over Dodge City

Five players scored in double-figures and the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team made 16 shots from three-point range in a 101-90 victory at Dodge City Community College on Saturday, November 23. The win improves the T-Birds to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play. The 8-0 start is the best start to a season for Cloud County since 2006-2007.

Redshirt freshman Matthew Garber currently ranks second in the conference in made three-pointers with 26. The 6-foot-2 guard from Sabetha, Kansas once again was hot from the outside against Dodge City, hitting on six of his 12 three-point attempts. Garber led the T-Birds with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. He also recorded seven rebounds.
Freshman guard Kuel Akot tallied 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four made three-pointers. Sophomore Fallou Koite notched 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting off the bench, including a 3-of-6 effort from behind the arc and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Redshirt freshman Keyon Garrett-Miller had 15 points and a team-high six assists. Freshman Elidjah Savane collected a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three blocked shots. Sophomore Roy Aviv drained a pair of three-pointers on his way to nine points and a team-high three steals.

Cloud County struggled offensively in the opening half, only scoring eight points inside the arc over the first 20 minutes of play. The T-Birds fell behind by nine points at 30-21 after a dunk by Dodge City freshman Koch-Deng Koch with 6:14 to play in the first-half. The T-Birds began to fight their way back by scoring from deep. Cloud County connected on 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) shots from long-range in the first-half.

A three-pointer by Garber with 1:15 to go gave Cloud County a 40-39 advantage.

Dodge City answered with a free-throw by sophomore Jamari Gamble and a fast-break dunk by freshman Daouda Cisse to put the Conquistadors up 42-40.

Cloud County closed out the half with a 5-0 run as Koite knocked down a three-pointer and Garber scored on a runner in the paint. The T-Birds held a 45-42 halftime lead.

Another Garber three early in he second half put Cloud County up 52-46, but Dodge City refused to back down. The Conquistadors quickly chipped away at the T-Birds lead. A jumper by freshman guard Derrick Rivers gave Dodge City a one point edge at 59-58 with 13:44 remaining.

The T-Birds answered with a 13-0 run, culminating in a dunk by Savane with 10:30 to go, putting Cloud County ahead 71-59.

Cloud County extended its lead out to 21 points at 88-67 with 5:59 remaining. Dodge City later got the lead down to single digits at 92-84 following three free-throws by sophomore Keshawn Brown Jr. with 1:40 to play, but the T-Birds responded by making their free-throws down the stretch. Garrett-Miller hit four crucial free-throws, while Akot, Aviv and Savane each made two free-throws apiece over the final two minutes to secure the win.

Cloud County scored 48 of its 101 points from behind the arc, with the 101 points marking the most points that a Cloud County men's basketball team has scored in a conference game since a 101-69 win over Colby on March 1, 2023. The T-Birds ended the game 30-of-65 (46.2 percent) overall, 16-of-32 (50.0 percent) from three-point range, and 25-of-33 (75.8 percent) from the free-throw line.

Dodge City was just 4-of-25 (16.0 percent) from downtown, including just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) in the second half. The Conquistadors ended up 33-of-80 (41.3 percent) overall, racking up 15 more shot attempts than the T-Birds after outrebounding Cloud County 45-37, including 22-11 on the offensive glass. Dodge City was led in the loss by Rivers with 21 points. Brown Jr. contributed 17 points. 7-foot-1 freshman Wesly Rosa recorded a 17 point, 14 rebound double-double.

Cloud County is back in action Tuesday, November 26 when the T-Birds host No. 1 Barton Community College for an 8 pm tip. The Cougars, the defending NJCAA Division I national champions, have won 34 straight games following an 82-77 win at Garden City on November 23. Barton currently sits at 7-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play and the Cougars have won three straight and four of their last five meetings with the T-Birds.