by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
On the road for nearly three weeks, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s much-traveled men’s basketball team returned home with gusto Friday night.
With five players in double figures and everyone scoring, the Blue Devils poured in 51 second half points in the second half on the way to a 90-53 win over Washburn University junior varsity.
“It’s always good to get home; it seems like we’ve been on the road all season,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. “And now we three in a row at home.”
The win was the third in four games for the Blue Devils, who play host to NJCAA Division I State Fair Tuesday at 7 p.m. and then close out pre-holiday play with a home game with Southwestern (Iowa) Saturday at 4 p.m.
Not only did everyone score for KCKCC, all 10 Blue Devils also had rebounds and eight had assists led by Calvin Slaughter with five and four each by Jermaine Yarbough and Ezekiel Lopes.
Jalen Davis led the Blue Devils in scoring with 16 points along with a game high four steals. Derin McDaniel, with four 3-pointers, added 14 points; DeAngelo Ball 12, Jaemaal Newson 11 and Slaughter 10. Tyione Gilmore, Newson and Yarbough with five rebounds each led KCKCC to a 46-25 domination of the boards.
While the Ichabods never led, they were down just 39-29 at halftime mainly because the Blue Devils out-scored the visitors 21-9 from 3-point. Sizzling 62.5 percent shooting (20-of-32) broke the game wide open in the second half.
“We got out quicker and ran faster in the second half, making them miss tough shots and then getting out on the break and pushing the ball,” Burgette said. “I liked the way we competed. Our pressure made them turn the ball over 20 times although we turned it over 16 times which is too many.
“I was also pleased with our second unit which scored 38 points,” Burgette said. “Now we can see how we can challenge ourselves against tough opponents closing out the semester.”
KCKCC shot 52.2 percent from the game and 39.3 percent from 3-point (11-of-28) as six Blue Devils had treys. The win came after five straight games on the road and 9 of the first 11 this season.