Trojan basketball closes out year at Coffeyville, lose 93-68

The Colby Community College men’s basketball team closed out the calendar year with a tough road test on Saturday, Dec. 13, falling 93–68 to Coffeyville Community College in a Jayhawk Conference matchup in Coffeyville

The Trojans were competitive early and executed their game plan through the opening half, but a slow start to the second half proved costly against a Coffeyville team that capitalized on momentum, depth, and trips to the free-throw line.

Colby trailed 39–31 at halftime after holding Coffeyville under 40 percent shooting from the field through the first 20 minutes. Head coach Jerrod Stanford said his team did a solid job defensively early, but key statistical margins began to show even before the break.

The Sunflower Standard is proudly sponsored by C-L Networks, LLC

“It was really just a rough second half,” Stanford said. “We played extremely well in the first half. It was an eight-point game at halftime. We’d held them under 40 percent from the floor. They had too many offensive rebounds, and a huge stat in the game was the amount of free throws they shot compared to us.”

Coffeyville went to the line 12 times in the first half, converting 11 of those attempts, while Colby was just 2-of-4 at the stripe. That imbalance continued after halftime as the Ravens finished 23-of-27 from the free-throw line compared to Colby’s 10-of-14

The decisive stretch came immediately after the break. Coffeyville opened the second half with a 12–0 run, pushing the lead into double digits and forcing Colby to play from behind the rest of the afternoon.

Coffeyville extended its lead behind efficient shooting, second-chance opportunities, and a deep bench that outscored Colby’s reserves 41–13. The Ravens also held a 52–37 rebounding advantage, including 18 offensive boards, which led to 19 second-chance points

Despite the final margin, Colby had several solid individual performances. Owen Reece led the Trojans with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, adding five rebounds. Giannis Asimakopoulos also scored 14 points and was perfect at the free-throw line, going 6-for-6 while grabbing eight rebounds. D.J. Cason chipped in 12 points, and Nana Keutcha posted an all-around effort with eight points, 10 rebounds, and three blocked shots

Stanford said the second-half struggles have been a recurring theme and remain an area of focus as the Trojans head into the holiday break.

“We’ve tried a whole bunch of stuff to put an emphasis on coming out and winning that first media timeout segment,” Stanford said. “Hopefully we can rectify that moving forward.”

As the Trojans pause for the holiday break, Stanford emphasized the importance of reflection and reset before the second half of the season.

“What we’ll focus on over the break is really doing a deep reflection of areas that we’re struggling in and what tweaks we can make,” he said. “One thing we have done well is make three-point shots. We’re third in the conference in made threes, but our percentage is lower than I’d like. We’ve got to figure out how to maximize that with better efficiency.”

Colby enters the break still within reach in the Jayhawk standings despite a challenging start to conference play. Stanford pointed to the Trojans’ recent win over Cloud County as an example of the level they must consistently reach.

“As bad as our year has been, we’re right there in the hunt if we continue to play,” Stanford said. “We’ve got to be together, connected, and playing with energy and passion for 40 minutes. Winning is really hard in this league, and you’ve got to be connected as a whole unit.”

Colby will return to action after the new year when it resumes conference play, looking to build on lessons learned and carry renewed focus into the heart of the Jayhawk Conference schedule. First up will be the Hutchinson Bluedragons on January 3 at the Colby Event Center.

by Derek White