The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BRADLEY Lightbourne, Joshua Dames and their Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils continue to play one of the most difficult schedules in JuCo basketball and defeated their second ranked team of the young season.

Lightbourne scored 24 and Dames scored 21 in the Blue Devils’ 93-88 win over no.4 Ellsworth Community College Tuesday night in Kansas City, Kansas.

KCKCC improved to 5-5 and handed Ellsworth their first loss of the season at 10-1.

Lightbourne also added six points and a team high seven assists while Dames grabbed eight rebounds and shot 5-8 from three-point range.

Ellsworth opened the game on a 7-0 run before the Blue Devils rallied to tie the game at 11 and eventually take a 43-35 lead into the half.

They would open the second half on a run of their own, highlighted by a Dames three that made the score 70-49 with just under 12 minutes left to play. Ellsworth responded with a 29-12 and came within a single point (85-84) with 1:54 left to play.

The Blue Devils’ 80 percent shooting from the free throw line came in clutch down the stretch to seal the upset.

Just over a week ago, Lightbourne scored 24 and Dames scored 23 to lead the Blue Devils to an 87-83 win over the no.19 ranked North Central Missouri College Pirates in the KCKCC Classic.

Lightbourne shot 9-15 from the field, 2-3 from three-point range, and made an impact on both ends of the floor with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

The sharpshooting Dames made 5-7 from three-point range en route to his 23 points. He also added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Blue Devils were selected to finish third in the KJCCC DII Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll. They are currently 2-2 against ranked teams this season.

Last season, both players received conference wide recognition for standout freshman seasons.

Lightbourne was named to the All-Second Team and Dames to the All- Third Team respectively.

Lightbourne averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game on the season. He shot 46 percent from the field. Dames earned Third Team honours after he averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.3 percent from the field.

This season, Lightbourne is averaging a team high 17.7 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent from three-point range.

He is also averaging 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Dames is averaging 15 points per game and shooting 47 percent from three-point range.

He is also averaging 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 77 percent from the free throw line.