Hot shooting lifts Garden City over Cloud County
Garden City, KS-Rusty Elmore got some welcome news just hours before Wednesday’s tip. His star guard, Jaborri McGhee, who missed the Pratt game after suffering a bone bruise vs. Cowley seven days ago, was cleared by Head Athletic Trainer, Alli Griffin. The first-year coach exhaled and pumped his fist. The rest of campus followed suit.
The freshman scored 13 points in 25 minutes in his return, DaJion Humphrey posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards, and No. 24 Garden City rolled past Cloud County, 72-60 for its fifth straight victory. The Broncbusters improved to 20-7 overall and 15-7 in league play, setting up a major showdown with Butler on Saturday.
David Elliott finished with 14 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds for Garden City, which shot 58 percent from the field. It was the third time in their last five games that the Broncbusters were over 50. They also connected on 9-of-18 3-pointers led by Humphrey, who after tying a school record with seven triples in their first meeting with the Thunderbirds, finished 4-of-7 from long range on Wednesday.
Justin Graham, who scored 25 points in the game back in January in Concordia, was limited to just seven on 3-of-9 shooting in 36 minutes. Corey Sawyer led the way with 16 points, and Ja’Ron Briggs Jr. posted nine assists.
After a defensive stalemate dominated the first 15 minutes, the Broncbusters found some rhythm. Elliott hit a 3-pointer followed by back-to-back midrange jumpers, and Humphrey connected on a turnaround from the baseline, giving the Broncbusters a 29-21 advantage. Cloud County though answered with the final six points of the half: a Graham 3-pointer followed by Malang Athian’s triple from the top of the key to cut the Garden City lead to 29-27 at the break.
It was all Elmore’s team from there.
The Broncbusters put together an offensive clinic early in the second half. Elliott easily got to the rim; then found Boston Harker in the corner for 3, McGhee swished a pair of triples, and Garden City was up seven at the first media timeout. They pushed it to 15 when Humphrey and McGhee hit back-to-back treys, and eventually stretched it to 20 when Buru Naivalurua whipped a pass to Humphrey, who hit a step-back 3 to make it 64-44 with 6:10 remaining.
Garden City finished with 19 assists on their 28 made baskets and outrebounded the Thunderbirds, 37-27. They also outscored Cloud County’s bench, 22-9.
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