Big second half propels T-Birds past Conqs, 79-69

DODGE CITY — It was a second half surge that the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds were in need of.
Cloud County, having lost its first three Jayhawk Conference games and playing without two starters including leading scorer Jay Lewis, trailed Dodge City Community College 30-25 at halftime.
The T-Birds then poured in 54 points over the final 20 minutes, and limited the Conquistadors to 39, to rally for a 79-69 road victory Saturday afternoon.
“Today was a huge team effort, and we really needed everyone on our bench to pull out this win today,” Cloud County coach Jordan Altman said, “In the first half we weren’t seeing shots fall for us that we normally hit, and we allowed too many second-chance points. We locked in on things that we do well in the second half and really got the ball moving which led to some open shots for us to take advantage, and that was big to turn things around.”
Snapping a three-game losing steak, the T-Birds are now 6-5 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Dodge City, with a fourth consecutive loss, falls to 7-4 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
Cloud County, who had Lewis and his 21 points per game, and Sami Sanad not available because of injury, turned the ball over 13 times and missed on all six of its three-point field goal attempts in falling behind Dodge City in the first half.
It didn’t take the T-Birds long to turn things around in the second half.
Cloud County, trailing 33-27, had freshman Dyelan Reed knock down a pair of threes during a 12-0 spurt that made it a 39-35 with less than five minutes gone by.
The T-Birds would not trail again in the game.
Dodge City would get as close as three points, 41-38, when Dejuan Horne scored with 14:24 remaining in the game.
An 11-3 run gave Cloud County a 52-41 cushion.
The T-Birds would go on to lead by as many as 13 points, 59-46.
Dodge City would rally to within four points, 62-58, on a basket by Ray Miles with 4:57 to play.
A jumper by Michael Ozomah and two free throws by Iyen Enaruna put the T-Birds up 66-68.
The Conquistadors would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Sophomore guard DJ Sims led three Cloud County players in double figures with 17 points.
Ty Duin, a sophomore guard, finished with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. He was four of six from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Reed added 10 points.
Enaruna scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Cloud County had four reserves combine for 26 points and 16 rebounds.
Ozomah had nine points and eight rebounds. Chad Vincent-Simon chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
“Getting a win is always great, but being able to see some of our bench players step up in a big way today, with Ty Duin have a career high and Akene Agee and David Acosta both making some plays for us, really went a long way in helping us pick up a tough road win,” Altman said.
Quindarius Thomas led Dodge City with 21 points.
Cloud County jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in the game, but went over five minutes without scoring as Dodge City battled back to go up 11-9.
The T-Birds would fall behind by as many as 10 points, 27-17.
Scoring eight points in less than a minute, Cloud County closed to within two points, 27-25.
A three by Landyn Tyler gave Dodge City the 30-25 halftime lead.
Cloud County then used the big second half to get the win.
The T-Birds will play at second-ranked Hutchinson Community College on Wednesday night.
Hutchinson was handed its first loss by Butler Community College 73-63 on Saturday.