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The Northwest Florida State College Men’s Basketball season ended with a tough loss to the #1 overall seed Barton County Cougars 87-73 Wednesday.
The Raiders (29-6) had hoped to pull off the upset against the Region VI tournament winners in Hutchinson, Kansas – but a poor shooting night, combined with efficient offense from Barton County, sealed the deal for the Raiders.
Barton County Fans showed up en masse to support the team – which audibly made a difference from the stands. Barton County’s campus is slightly more than an hour away from the tournament site in Hutchinson.
Northwest Florida State didn’t go quietly, though. The Region VIII Runners-Up fought at a high tempo to the final whistle. Tavion Banks hustled from one side of the court to another to prevent a long throw-in attempt from Barton with less than a minute left, despite the obvious outcome. Banks stopped the play and careened into a gaggle of Barton County Cheerleaders—hopped right back up and got back into the action.
Barton County College took its only loss of the season against Cowley County Community College 125 days ago.
The Raiders defeated Cowley County Monday 85-70 for the right to play the Cougars Wednesday.
Jamal Sumlin provided the most efficient shooting performance of the game. The guard made 75% of his shots and his free throws to garner 16 points for the Raiders. He also snagged four rebounds and five steals. His only weakness? Foul trouble. His skills would leave the floor after he fouled out.
RaSheed Jones, Jadyn Shider, Tyrese Elliot, Will Hynes, and Tavion Banks would have abysmal shooting nights – going at a collective 11-42 on the night – including a 4-19 performance behind the three-point arc.
Barton County’s Brent Moss would come off the bench for the most points on the night – locking in 18. The Cougars would also double the number of assists (20) Northwest Florida State had.
With a disappointing quarterfinal exit for Coach Steve DeMeo and the men – it will be up to Women’s Coach Bart Walker and the Lady Raiders to bring home hardware.
They have their next game, the first game of the national tournament, on Thursday, March 28th, at 5:30 PM Central Time. They will take on Casper College for the right to advance to the quarterfinals.
The ladies are the third seed overall and start the tournament with a 27-3 record.
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