by Alan Hoskins
Kansas City Kansas Community College overcame a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes Friday only to have Livin’ The Dream escape with a 92-89 win.
The loss to the team of former college standouts including several who have played professionally overseas evened the Blue Devils’ record at 1-1 heading into a road trip Tuesday against Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo.
Then the Blue Devils are back home for the annual 8-team Keith Lindsey Classic where they’ll play Link Year Prep Friday at 8 p.m. and St. Louis Community College Saturday at 6 p.m. The Classic will feature eight games in two days.
Trailing by 10 with less than four minutes left, Kellan Turner ignited KCKCC’s game-tying rally with a pair of three-pointers and Xavier Gaona added one. But the Blue Devils could never get the lead due to field goals by Cavel Witter and Kelvin Parker, Gaona closed the KCKCC deficit to 89-88 but Parker converted two free throws with 4.7 seconds left and Turner’s desperation three-pointer to tie bounced off the rim.
Kyle Sloan, a key member of KCKCC’s 25-game win season in 2010-11, fueled the Dream’s second half rally with all of his 13 points in the second half. Parker led with 22 points while Witter added 16.
Down 51-44 at the half, Livin’ The Dream overtook the Blue Devils with torrid shooting, hitting 17-of-27 second half shots for 63 percent including 5-of-8 three-pointers. For the game, the Dreamers shot 55.6 percent from the field, 60 percent from three-point and 87 percent from the foul line compared to KCKCC’s 41.2 percent the second half and 47.1 percent for the game.
Gaona, a 6-6 freshman from Kilgore, Texas, led all scorers and rebounders with 23 points and eight boards. His 23 points came on 9-of-14 shooting including 4of-6 treys. Mike Lee also had four treys in a 16-point performance and led in assists with six. Turner, who had three three-pointers, added 11 points and five assists while Dehaven Talley chipped in with nine points, Jonathan Murray seven points and seven rebounds and Joe Lendway, six points and six rebounds.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director for KCKCC.