by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
Idled by the pandemic the last three weeks, it seemed only fitting Kansas City Kansas Community College’s men’s basketball team should go overtime in its first game back.
Getting a do-or-die free throw from Caleb Jones with two-tenths of a second remaining to get into overtime, the Blue Devils rode 3-pointers by DeAngelo Bell and Shayon Janloo to a down-to-the-wire 73-70 win Saturday.
The win vaulted the Blue Devils (3-1) into first place in the Jayhawk Conference ahead of Johnson County (5-2), Fort Scott (4-3) and Labette (4-3) with one regular season game remaining. KCKCC finishes at Fort Scott Wednesday while JCCC is at Labette and Highland (2-2) at Hesston (0-7).
The Blue Devils (10-6) were a free throw away from a win – or a loss in the final second of regulation play Saturday. Caleb Jones, who had made two free throws to give KCKCC a 65-64 lead with 14 seconds to play, was fouled with :02 left and the Blue Devils trailing 66-65. His first free throw came up short, the second center cut and overtime.
Labette took a quick 68-66 lead in overtime before Bell and Janloo delivered game-deciding 3-pointers. Bell’s came with 3:15 left for a 69-68 lead and Janloo followed with the haymaker with 39 seconds remaining and a 72-68 lead.
Labette’s Jermond Mosley’s layup made it 72-70 and the Cardinals sent Jones to the foul line with 14 seconds to go. He made the first but Bryson Dennis’ desperation 3-pointer to tie bounced off the back rim.
A 6-7 sophomore from Raytown South playing his final regular season home game, Jones led all scorers with a career high 26 points on 10-of-13 from the field. He also led the Blue Devils in rebounding with 10 with Robert Rhodes adding seven.
Bell totaled 15 points including 3-of-5 treys, Jonloo 11 points and Trey Bates a career high 11 assists and three steals.
The Blue Devils came out blazing, converting 16 of 30 shots for 53.3 percent and a 39-27 halftime only to have the Cardinals drain 5-of-10 3-pointers in out-scoring KCKCC 39-27 the second half.
Taking advantage of a sizeable size advantage, the Cardinals dominated rebounding 42-32 but committed 22 turnovers to 18 for KCKCC.