T-Birds edge Beavers, 75-73

Coming off a pair of losses in which they had second half leads slip away, the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds erased an eight-point deficit and made some big defensive plays in the closing seconds to capture a 75-73 Jayhawk Conference win over Pratt Community College on Saturday afternoon.
Cloud County had surrendered second half leads in losses to Northeast (Neb.) Community College and Seward County Community College in its previous two games.
The T-Birds fell behind Pratt 45-38 three minutes into the second half but battled back to go up 75-73 when Justin Graham made one of two free throws with 39 seconds to play.
Cloud County got blocked shots by Zion Obanla and Graham in the final seconds of the game to hang for the two-point win.
“We went down twice in this game, so it kind of had an opposite feel. We went down in the first half, end up on top at half, and then went down again. And kept our faith and kept believing in each other and in the system that we were going to be stops, hit the shots we needed and we came back and won,” Cloud County coach Devin Kastrup said. “Big time maturity and growth from our guys, I thought.”
The T-Birds, now 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the Jayhawk Conference, trailed by as many as 11 points, 24-13, in the first half.
A 22-6 run over the final seven minutes of the half gave Cloud County a 35-30 lead.
It was a 37-32 game early in the second half when Pratt, 6-5 overall and 1-4 in the conference, rattled off 13 unanswered points in a span of 2:36 to go up 45-37.
A.J. Weston started the run for the Beavers with a three-point shot. Nasan Ayala connected on a pair of threes.
Cloud County would battle back to within a point, 53-52, when Savian Edwards knocked down a three with 11:05 remaining in the game.
Pratt would push the lead back to six points, 58-52.
Trailing 60-55, the T-Birds got a three by Edwards and a free throw by Joe Kearney to again make it a one-point game, 60-59.
The two teams traded baskets over the next two minutes.
A follow by Harrison Eghan and two free throws by Ayala put the Beavers on top 68-63 with just over five minutes to play.
Cloud County twice pulled within a point, but was unable to overtake Pratt.
A three-point shot by Nate Duckworth made it a 71-70 game with 3:58 on the clock.
Ayala made one of two free throws, and Pratt led 72-70.
Duckworth scored inside to tie the game, the T-Birds got a defensive stop, and Duckworth scored again to give Cloud County a 74-72 advantage with 1:20 on the clock.
Cam Morris missed a shot for Pratt, but the T-Birds were whistled for a foul on the rebound.
Tommy Thomas missed both free throw attempts, but the Beavers got an offensive rebound and Morris was fouled. He made one of two free throws to close the gap to 74-73 with 1:01 to play.
Cloud County ran the clock down to 39 seconds before Graham was fouled with 39 seconds left. He missed the first free throw and made the second to give the T-Birds a 75-73 advantage.
Quintin Metcalf had his shot blocked, but the Beavers came up with the ball and Eagan was fouled. He missed both free throws.
Pratt fouled Joe Kearney with 11 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one and Pratt grabbed the rebound.
Ayala, who led Pratt with 19 points, put up a floater in the lane that was swatted away and out of bounds by Obanla with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
Obanla, who suffered a broken arm prior to the start of the season, was playing in his first game.
“He (Obanla) is a monster athlete,” Kastrup said.
Following two timeouts, Pratt inbounded the ball to D.J. Bailey in the corner and his three-point heave at the buzzer was blocked by Graham.
“Our guys made the plays that they needed and a win is a win, especially in the tough Jayhawk Conference,” Kastrup said.
Cloud County had five players score in double figures, led by Duckworth, Kearney and Edwards with 13 points each.
Graham finished with 11 points and DeMarco Clayton added 10 points.
Thomas joined Ayala in double figures for Pratt with 12 points.
Pratt got out to a 15-5 lead in the game.
The Beavers led by as many as 11 points before the T-Birds used the big run to go up 35-30 at halftime.
Cloud County will play its next two conference games on the road, at Barton Community College Wednesday night and at Butler Community College on Saturday, before wrapping up play prior to Christmas break by hosting Dodge Community College the following Monday.
“I would argue that this might be our toughest three-game stretch coming up,” Kastrup said.