Big second half pushes Beavers past Barton, 74-71

After trailing 37-26 at halftime and 56-53 midway through the second half, the Pratt Community College mens basketball team rallied for a 74-71 win over Barton Saturday night in Great Bend.
The Beavers slowly chipped away at the Cougars’ lead and got within one several times before finally getting over the hump with 1:44 left.
Pratt had a disappointing first half as Barton hit 48 percent of their shots and the Beavers turned the ball over 11 times.
“We had a bad first half, had a long talk at halftime and I told the guys we didn’t have to get it all back at once,” PCC coach Trevor Rolfs said.
But, things changed for Pratt after that halftime chat, and the Beavers just kept fighting their way back into the game.
The second half was nearly a complete 180 for the Beavers, who had just three turnovers in the final 20 minutes while scoring eight points off Barton turnovers, ten fast-break points and ten second-chance points. Pratt also had a 22-8 advantage in the paint during the second half.
Even with 6-11 sophomore Illiwa Baldwin on the bench after picking up his fourth foul at the 10:48 mark, the Beavers got within a point on a three-pointer by freshman Trae Beck with 10:07 to play.
Barton’s Joe Reid answered at the other end, and with 9:19 left, a basket by sophomore Tyrone “Monty” Gordon made it 56-55 Cougars.
Barton went on a 7-2 run to go up 63-57 with 4:43 to play, but the Beavers quickly rallied.
At the 4:14 mark, Baldwin scored on a putback and twenty seconds later, freshman Trent Thomas grabbed a rebound and took it coast-to-coast for a layup, then converted it into a three-point play to make it 63-62.
The Beavers forced a turnover on Barton’s next possession, and a free throw by Baldwin at the 3:16 mark tied things up at 63.
The Cougars got three straight points to regain the lead with 2:42 left, but Baldwin hit a 20-footer from the top of the key to make it a one-point game again with 2:27 to play.
Barton’s Ronald Baker scored with 2:18 remaining, but Thomas answered by draining a three-pointer in front of the Pratt bench with 2:03 left to tie the game at 68.
Colin Beatty, who led Barton with 20 points, missed and Baldwin controlled the rebound.
At the other end, Baldwin drew Beatty’s fifth foul and then made both free throws to put PCC on top 70-68. It was Pratt’s first lead of the entire game, and the Beavers never trailed again.
In the final 1:44, free throws were far more common than field goals and for once the Beavers hit a higher percentage than their opponent. Pratt was four-of-six in the final 2:00 while Barton hit just four of eight charities.
The Cougars missed two with 1:28 left, and Baldwin was fouled after grabbing the rebound. That was Reid’s fifth foul, leaving Barton without their two leading scorers for the final 1:26. Baldwin hit the second free throw for a 71-68 lead.
Barton’s Karon Burton and Kevin Smith combined to hit one of four free throws during a wild sequence at the other end, but the Beavers still had a 71-69 lead with a minute left.
Gordon found Jay Valerius for a basket with 38 seconds left, putting Pratt up 73-69.
Baker hit a pair of free throws at the other end, making it 73-71 Pratt with 31.7 seconds left.
The Beavers passed the ball through Barton’s full-court press, and as soon as Baldwin dribbled it across the mid-court line, he got it to Thomas – Pratt’s best free throw shooter this season – who eluded several Cougars before being fouled with 17.7 seconds left.
Thomas drained the first free throw to make it a three-point game, and his second was just off the mark, giving Barton one last chance to tie.
Gordon came up with a huge block on Burton’s three-point attempt, and the ball was batted around during the final seconds. Beck and two Barton players were diving for it when the final buzzer sounded, sending Pratt into the second half of the conference season with a 5-3 record against West opponents.
“We chipped away, chipped away and if we’d have made free throws, we’d have had a lead sooner,” Rolfs said. “Once we got a lead, I felt we would win the game. We finally got a lead with two minutes to go and won the game.”
Baldwin had another double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds while Thomas added 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists. The freshman from Milwaukee did most of his damage in the second half, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds after halftime.
“Illi was big tonight with 24 and 12,” Rolfs said. “Trent Thomas had a really nice second half. If we could ever get Trent to put two halves of basketball together, we might be kinda scary.”
Pratt also got 12 points from Beck, who hit four of eight three-point attempts plus grabbed six rebounds.
“Trae Beck played really well. Trae’s not only playing well offensively, defensively he’s playing really well,” Rolfs said of the freshman from Coldwater. “That Morrow kid had two points in 34 minutes and that kid can score the ball. Trae guarded him the whole time he was in.”
Gordon added seven points and two assists, and Pratt also got six points from Marcus Smith. Valerius handed out three assist while Taner Hayes had two assists and four rebounds.
“Despite our whopping 44.8 percent from the free throw line we won. It’s a good thing they were 47 percent from the line,” Rolfs said. “We won because we fought hard and now we’re on to Colby.”
The Beavers (16-6, 5-3 Jayhawk West) will travel to Colby tonight to start the second half of conference play.
If the Beavers win tonight at Colby, it would give Rolfs his 100th career win at PCC, and his first win in the Community Building.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Colby, and the game can be heard online at www.j-marketing.net.
Pratt will have Wednesday off before hosting Cloud County Saturday night in the Beaver Dome.

Pratt 74, Barton 71
PCC: Illiwa Baldwin 8-13 8-14 24, Trent Thomas 6-13 2-3 17, Trae Beck 4-9 0-0 12, Tyrone Gordon 3-10 1-5 7, Marcus Smith 2-3 2-2 6, Jay Valerius 2-6 0-2 4, Taner Hayes 1-3 0-1 2, John Rutherford 1-5 0-2 2. TOTALS 27-62 13-29 74.
BCC: Colin Beatty 8-17 2-4 20, Joe Reid 6-12 1-4 13, Ronald Baker 4-10 2-2 11, Karon Burton 3-8 2-4 9, Kevin Smith 3-5 3-7 9, Samer Jassar 3-4 1-2 7, Dennan Morrow 1-5 0-0 2, Cody Branham 0-0 0-0 0, Ebenezer Davis 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 28-63 11-23 71.
PCC    26    48 – 74
BCC    37    34 – 71
3-point goals – PCC 7-18 (Beck 4-8, Thomas 3-6, Rutherford 0-3, Smith 0-1), BCC 4-16 (Beatty 2-6, Baker 1-4, Burton 1-2, Morrow 0-4). Rebounds – PCC 43 (Baldwin 12), BCC 44 (Beatty 13). Assists – PCC 13 (Valerius 3), BCC 13 (Baker 5). Turnovers – PCC 14, BCC 14. Total fouls – PCC 21, BCC 23. Fouled out – Beatty, Reid. Technicals – None.