by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
With sophomore Malcolm Tate knocking down 3-pointers at a record rate, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Blue Devils put together their best effort of the season in a 91-62 win over Hesston Wednesday night.
The win moved KCKCC into fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference at 3-4 heading into a game against the Blue Devils closest pursuer at Fort Scott (2-5) Saturday at 4 p.m.
A 6-2 guard from Wichita South, Tate put up six 3-pointers and made all six, the first Blue Devil ever to shoot 100 percent from distance with six or more shots. Tate added one other field goal to finish 7-for-7 and a game-high 20 points along with five rebounds and three assists.
All five Blue Devil starters finished in double figures with 6-6 freshman Jonathan Richmond dominating inside with a double-double – 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Calvin Slaughter contributed 17 points, three rebounds and three assists; Arother Ratliff 14 points and seven rebounds; and Kelyn Bolton 10 points, four rebounds and a game-high five assists. Cody Dortch added eight points and three assists and DuVonte’ Beard six rebounds to the well-balanced offense.
“I was real happy for Malcolm Tate,” KCKCC coach Kelley Turner said. “He has worked hard and was due to have a night like that. And his teammates did a good job of getting him the ball in open spaces. You really can attack only two ways, get the ball into the post or drive the ball and then kick it out if it’s not open and we did a real good job of that.”
The Blue Devils had 20 assists which helped them to their best shooting night of the season – 60 percent on 18-of-30 the first half; 66.7 percent on 20-of-30 the second half for 63.3 percent overall. With Tate leading the way, the Blue Devils were also a sizzling 12 of 20 from 3-point for 60 percent. In addition to Tate’s half-dozen, Slaughter. Ratliff and Dortch had two each.
“That’s the best outside shooting production we’ve had all season,” Newton said. “And Jonathan Richmond had a real good game inside. It was a great way to end a three-game losing streak and get us to fourth place by ourselves. We need to stay in the race.”
The Blue Devils took control early. Trailing 6-4, the Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run during a six minute span to open a 16-6 lead on the way to a 40-28 halftime lead. Bolton had two field goals, Tate and Slaughter a 3-pointer each and Richmond a layup in the pivotal surge. The Larks never got closer than eight points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 30.
KCKCC dominated the rebounding 45-19 and limited Hesston to 23-of-59 shots for 39 percent. Ironically, the Blue Devils went to the free throw line just three times, making all three in their biggest Jayhawk scoring spree of the season. The previous high came in a 69-59 overtime win at Hesston.