INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - The Independence Men's Basketball team picked up a massive signature win, solidifying themselves as contenders in the KJCCC Saturday night as they knocked off the 25th-ranked Garden City Broncbusters 101-92.
The Pirates came into tonight's matchup tied for first place in the KJCCC and riding a three game winning streak, but were looking for a shot at a nationally ranked opponent to help put them on the map. The first half was extremely evenly matched, with the Broncbusters having a slight advantage from the field and from deep, but the Pirates were able to take advantage of the free throw line, knocking down 20 of their 26 first half foul shots. Neither team saw a lead greater than six as the Broncbusters carried a slim one point advantage into the break.
In the second half, Indy continued to attack offensively, while stepping up on the defensive side of the ball, especially defending the three point line. Trae Lewis buried an early three pointer to quickly give the Pirates a second half lead before the two teams exchanged blows for much of the half in a very back and forth affair.
With 12 minutes to go in the first half, the Pirates made their first run to push their lead back out to six. Will Lobor and Sekou Kourouma hit back to back buckets before Xavier Miller buried a three point shot to culminate the 7-0 run. Garden City punched right back with an 8-1 run that put them back in front by a point with eight minutes to play. The Pirates pushed out to their largest lead at the time with five minutes in the half, after a bucket from Sterling Knox, who had a game high 20. The Broncbusters immediately responded with back to back buckets, and eventually knotted the game up at 86 with two minutes to go.
The Pirates delivered one final knockout blow down the stretch of the tied game, as they put together a 9-0 spurt, all started with a dunk from Lonnie Bass Jr on a nice dish from Lewis, followed by an and-1 from Knox, and capped off with a pair of free throws from Combs-Pierce, a nine point lead the Pirates would maintain until the final buzzer.
Knox delivered a fantastic all around game as he finished with 20 points, seven boards, and five assists. Three other Pirate starters finished in double figures as Trashaun Combs-Pierce had a season high 18 points, Trae Lewis delivered 17 points, and David Wilson chipped in 11. A balanced scoring attack from the bench was spearheaded by Xavier Miller and Sekou Kourouma who each finished with eight points. Fortune Anslem-Ibe also had a game high seven rebounds off the bench.
The Pirates, now 7-4 (5-1), will look to stay atop the KJCCC standings, as they hit the road next week for another tough test when they travel to El Dorado, Kansas to take on Butler.