Beaver Men Come From Behind to Bounce Barton 74-71

Illi Baldwin with one of his patented dunks.

The PCC Men's Basketball Team did not lead until less than two minutes remained in the game, but that was all they needed in their come from behind win in Great Bend on Saturday night.  It was another critical game in the Jayhawk West, as Pratt moved back into fourth place in the conference with a 5-3 record.
 
Pratt trailed by as many as sixteen in the first half, but went into the locker room down by eleven.  The Beavers came out in the second half a different team, going on an 11-0 run to make it 42-43.  Still they could not grab the lead.  Free throws again were the albatross holding them back, but Illi Baldwin threw the bird off his neck with 1:45 remaining, hitting two to give Pratt their first lead of the night, 70-68.
 
Barton picked up where Pratt left off, missing five of six free throws down the stretch. Baldwin hit one more from the line, then Jay Valerius dropped in two down low, and Trent Thomas finished out the Beaver scoring with another free throw.
 
Baldwin had another double/double with his game high 24 points and 12 rebounds.  Trent Thomas added 16, and Trae Beck scored twelve.
 
Both teams shot 44 percent from the field, and both teams were woeful from the line.  Pratt hit only 45 percent of their free throws, while Barton managed only slightly better at 48 percent.  Rebounding and turnovers were also even. Pratt produced more points behind the arc on 7 of 18 shooting to Barton's 4 of 6.
 
Pratt will travel to Colby on Monday night for an 8:00pm game.