Hutchinson advances to NJCAA quarterfinals
Hutchinson’s late push in the second half helped the Blue Dragons advance to the NJCAA tournament quarterfinals with an 84-74 win over Moberly Area (Mo.).
The Blue Dragons (30-4) jumped out to an 11-0 lead over the Greyhounds (25-11), sparked by six points from Akbar Hoffman.
“I thought our intensity was great the first five minutes or so,” Hutchinson coach Steve Eck said. “Getting out to an 11-0 start is nice, keeping it is even better.”
The Blue Dragons controlled the first half and led 46-35, shooting 51 percent and getting 17 points from Hoffman and 10 from Bashir Ahmed.
Moberlyused a 16-5 run to cut the Blue Dragons lead down to four, 57-53 midway through the second half.
“They got it within four points and we got lazy guarding a little bit,” Eck said. “We took a couple quick shots and we had to be more patient. That’s key, we had to get more stops and we got some stops, and kept Moberly from getting out and breaking it.”
Hoffman finished with a career-high 29 points and four assists. Ahmed also played a big factor for Hutch with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 11 points at the free-throw line.
“They were doing a good job every time I caught the ball outside,” Ahmed said. “I knew I had to penetrate with the ball and drive to the basket and either find my teammates or go up with the ball and get fouled.”
Daniel Dzierzawski, who had averaged 20 points in Moberly’s past seven games, was held to four points Wednesday.
“Akbar Hoffman did a good job on him,” Eck said, “but also the whole team defense, the postmen pinched on him.…” and made 2 penetrate.”
The No. 7 Blue Dragons will play defending champion Northwest Florida State College (27-5) on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena for a spot in the semifinals. –
“I know they’ve got some guards that can drive, shoot and do a lot of things,” Eck said. “They’ve got some good players. I’ll make some phone calls and watch some film and we’ll see what we can do.”
Moberly: Clark 20, Lindsey 18, Dzierzawski 4, David 3, Harper-Baker 5, Dama 6, Williams 18.
Hutchinson: Juiston 7, Hoffman 29, Ahmed 22, Haynes-Jones 8, Emery 6, Pinder 12.
Halftime – Hutchinson 46, Moberly 35. Three-pointers – Moberly 9-24 (Clark 4-9, Lindsey 4-10, Williams 1-1, David 0-1, Harper-Baker 0-1); Hutchinson 6-18 (Hoffman 3-6, Pinder 1-2, Haynes-Jones 1-3, Ahmed 1-6, Conley 0-1). Rebounds – Moberly 33 (Williams 9); Hutchinson 46 (Two players with 12). Assists – Moberly 11 (Lindsey 5); Hutchinson 16 (Hoffman 4). Fouls – Moberly 23, Hutchinson 17. Fouled out – David.
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Hutchinson advances to NJCAA quarterfinals."