Hutchinson, Kan. – The Pratt Community College (PCC) Beavers traveled to Hutchinson, KS on Tuesday, March 1 for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region VI quarterfinals. The Beavers took on the Hutchinson Community College (HCC) Blue Dragons for the second time in eight days. Having just beaten the Blue Dragons at home on Monday, February 21st with a score of 112-100.
Hutch jumped out to an early lead and with 10:05 left in the first half lead 35-19 over the Beavers. The Blue Dragons held a substantial lead at halftime 61-32 after hitting 11 three pointers in the first half. The Beavers did manage to make a run in the second half and outscored Hutch 50-49, but ultimately lost 110-82. The Beavers ended their season for the second time in the past four years in the NJCAA Region VI quarterfinals.
"Almost all of their stuff came on defensive breakdowns… they took advantage of our mistakes," said Head Coach Kenny Eddy. "It was our choice on how we ended this game we could have either laid down or fought back for 20 minutes. This team has never chosen to lay down and I was proud of the fight that came in the second half."
Sophomore DJ Bailey scored his season high of 16 points and had four assists for the Beavers. Sophomore Nasan Ayala finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Both sophomores Tommy Thomas and Julian Eziukwu scored 10 points and Harrison Eghan finished with 11 points. The Beavers had 34 points in the paint and scored 21 points off second chance opportunities.
Pratt finished 15-17 overall and 9-15 conference this season. They picked up two wins against ranked opponents this season against then ranked #9 Colby 85-71 on December 8th and then #19 ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragons 112-100 on February 21st. The one stat the Beavers will look to forget next season is only winning two games on the road.
"I never could have predicted this road…it has been anything but predictable for sure," said Coach Eddy. "I am incredibly thankful for this group for sticking around and playing hard. They are an incredible group of guys."
