Trojans Push No. 11 Barton to the Final Seconds in 73–70 Road Battle

GREAT BEND — The Colby Community College men’s basketball team delivered its most complete performance of the regular season Tuesday night, pushing 11th-ranked Barton Community College to the final horn before falling 73–70 in a tense finish inside Fleske Fieldhouse. The Trojans led for long stretches, defended with purpose, and matched the Cougars statistically across nearly every category, but second-chance points and late-game turnovers ultimately tilted the outcome.

Colby opened with one of its most efficient halves of the young season, hitting 34 first-half points while holding Barton to 28. Sophomore guard D.J. Cason and freshman sharpshooter Kellan Simoneau set the tone early. Simoneau hit three triples on his way to 14 points , while Cason poured in 20 points and went a perfect nine-for-nine from the free-throw line . Aliou Diallo added 15 points off the bench, knocking down three three-pointers and providing key energy throughout the night.

Colby’s biggest lift came from sophomore forward Nana Keutcha, who hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds to help the Trojans stay competitive on the glass despite Barton’s size advantage . Still, the Cougars controlled the rebounding margin 39–30, including 15 offensive boards that created extra scoring chances .

Head Coach Jerrod Stanford said his team looked more like its early-season self — the group that opened the preseason 6–1 — and he saw major progress despite the final score.

“Yeah, it was a much better game,” Stanford said. “We looked like the team we saw earlier in October when we had tremendous success. It was good to see us, for the first time in regular-season play, look like the team we’ve looked like before.”

Where Barton separated itself was the offensive glass. The Cougars’ second-chance buckets proved decisive down the stretch.

“They did a tremendous job boxing out and keeping us off the offensive glass,” Stanford said. “That definitely hurt us. Most nights we’ve had the advantage in offensive rebounding, but they were able to take that away. They out rebounded us, they beat us on the offensive glass, and that was really the difference — plus a couple more turnovers.”

Even so, Colby’s defensive improvement stood out. The Trojans held Barton to 28.6 percent shooting from behind the arc and forced 16 turnovers. They also kept themselves in striking distance through 10 ties and 14 lead changes across the 40-minute contest .

“It was a really hard-fought game,” Stanford said. “The team was extremely locked in and competitive with high energy. It showed our guys that when we play like that, we can compete with anybody. But when you’re going on the road to play the 11th-ranked team in the country, you have to win the turnover battle, the rebounding battle, the free-throw battle. We didn’t win those areas, and that’s what you have to do in this league.”

The final 90 seconds brought the game’s most drama. Down 66–68, Colby clawed within one on free throws from Cason and a late layup from Gabe Njenga. After forcing a turnover, the Trojans had the ball down one with eight seconds left — a chance to steal a conference road win. But Barton’s pressure forced a turnover, and after two Cougar free throws extended the lead, Colby’s half-court heave at the buzzer missed wide.

“We had the ball down one with 8.5 seconds left and turned it over,” Stanford said. “Then we had the ball down three with 2.5 seconds left and missed a half-court shot. We were very competitive, very spirited. We’ve just got to continue to build that up every game and make those our daily habits. If we do that, great things will come by the end of the year.”

Colby finished the night shooting 37.9 percent from deep and 80.8 percent at the free-throw line, two of the team’s strongest marks of the season. The Trojans also outscored Barton 44–29 in bench points and held the Cougars to just six made three-pointers on 21 attempts.

Despite the loss, the effort represented a meaningful step forward.