KCKCC guard Kellen Turner is sent sprawling as he takes a charging foul from Wentworth’s Quoyai Shorter in the Blue Devils’ 77-55 win Wednesday while KCKCC defenders Lane Hartley (5) and Donald Metoyer (40) look on. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
Getting season-best performances from a trio of Blue Devils, Kansas City Kansas Community College surged to a 77-55 win over Wentworth Military Academy Wednesday night.
The win was the first in 10 starts for the Blue Devils, who are right back in action at home Friday at 7 p.m. against North Arkansas and then again next Tuesday against Iowa Western.
Freshman Artavious Banks and sophomores Garrick McCuller and Donald Metoyer combined for 32 points and eight rebounds in their best efforts of the season. More important was when they scored.
Leading 38-28 at the half, the Blue Devils had their lead cut to 50-44 with 12 minutes left when McCuller and Banks stepped front and center, combining for 18 of KCKCC’s 19 points in a 19-9 run that opened a comfortable 69-53 lead. McCuller had a pair of 3-point plays and Banks one to start the pivotal surge. Scoreless in the first half, Banks scored 12 in the second half while McCuller added nine of his 11 in the final 20 minutes to go along Metoyer’s career high nine points.
“A great team win,” said KCKCC coach Kelley Newton. “It felt good to see our kids get stops on the defensive end. We did a great job defending and rebounding that allowed us to get a few easy buckets. And I thought we did a good job getting to the free throw line and putting pressure on them on the offensive end.”
Sophomore center Jon Murray led the Blue Devils with another big night, scoring 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting and came up just one rebound short of a double double with nine; Kellen Turner grabbed eight rebounds, scored nine points and had five steals; and Mike Lee Jr. dished out a game high seven assists along with five points and three steals.
While edged on the boards 36-31, the Blue Devils committed just five turnovers (one the first half), forcing the Red Dragons into 20 turnovers and also shot a crisp 48.2 percent from the field while limiting Wentworth to 37 percent.
The win came just 24 hours after a 99-77 loss at Penn Valley when the Blue Devils were torched by a spectacular shooting performance by guard James Byrd. A 6-2 sophomore guard, Byrd was a perfect 9-for-9 from three-point range and 14-of-18 from the field in a 42-point performance.
“He was on fire,” said Penn Valley coach Marcus Harvey.
Jon Murray led the Blue Devils with his eighth double double of the young season, 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kellen Turner led the scoring with 18 points while Daniel Kingcannon had a career high 11 points and Mike Lee nine points and seven assists.