by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
It was the cruelest of setbacks for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s young men’s basketball team Friday night – a desperation shot that banked in from beyond mid-court as the final horn was sounding.
North Arkansas guard Kamari Balton was the villain, hitting the game winner that gave the Pioneers an 83-81 win that ruined the Blue Devils’ best effort of the season. The win was the 10th in 11 starts for North Ark while KCKCC fell to 4-8 heading into a home game with Iowa Lakes next Saturday at 4 p.m.
Trailing 80-79 with 25 seconds left, KCKCC got a key block from Josiah Laws and then went ahead when Solomon Thomas hit a clutch 12-foot jump shot from the baseline for an 81-80 lead with 4.9 seconds remaining.
After a North Ark timeout, KCKCC’s Sterling Hicks nearly came up with a game-ending steal when he deflected the in-bounds pass but the Pioneers’ Kody Gilliland was able to retrieve the loose ball and get it to Balton, who took two dribbles and banked in the game-winner just as he was about to cross the mid-court stripe. Video confirmed there were four-tenths of a second left when the ball left Balton’s hand.
“A great effort by our guys,” said KCKCC coach Kelley Newton, whose Blue Devils wiped out a 16-point first half deficit with a furious second half comeback that saw them surge to a 78-71 lead on a Hicks’ 3-pointer with 4:56 remaining. However, the Blue Devils could muster only three points the rest of the way, a free throw by Dion Union and Thomas’ go-ahead basket with 4.9 seconds left.
The Blue Devils got a spectacular performance from Olathe East freshman Dion Union, who had a game high and career best 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting including 4-of-6 three-pointers and came close to a triple double. He also led KCKCC in rebounds with 10 and assists with seven.
Backcourt running mate Zion Buckner added 17 points and six rebounds while Hicks had nine points and six rebounds, Tyson Beringer eight points and eight rebounds and Trevon Jefferson six points and five rebounds. KCKCC had a 49-40 advantage in rebounding and both teams had 11 turnovers.
In the end, the difference was the scoring from the perimeter. The Pioneers outscored the Blue Devils 45-24 from 3-point, netting 15-of-34 for 44.1 percent to 8-of-25 for 32 percent for KCKCC.
