Elliott posts double-double; Garden City roars past Indy

Independence, KS-David Elliott has absolutely feasted on Independence this year. 

The sophomore finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Buru Naivalurua added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Garden City raced past the Pirates, 78-63 Saturday night at ICCC Fieldhouse. The Broncbusters improved to 14-6 overall and 9-6 in the Jayhawk, sliding into a tie with Barton for fourth place in the conference standings. 

In two games vs. Independence this season, Elliot averaged 17 points and eight assists on 50 percent shooting. In 35 minutes on Saturday, he was 8-of-16 from the floor, 2-of-5 from downtown and pulled down eight rebounds. 

The Broncbusters shot 60 percent from the field and were 9-of-17 on 3s. They outrebounded the Pirates, 35-26, dished out 19 assists and produced 21 bench points. 

Garden City was red hot in the first half. Jaborri McGhee slithered inside for a layup, Elliott lobbed a perfect pass to Larry Olayinka for a two-handed jam, and McGhee and Elliott connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Broncbusters an early 17-8 advantage. A few minutes later, McGhee nailed another long ball from the top of the key, DaJion Humphrey followed with an 18-footer, and Elliott rattled home a foul-line jumper, stretching the lead to 28-12 with 10:29 to go. 

"We got in a really good rhythm early in the game," Associate Head Coach, Bobby Naubert said. "Things just started flowing after that."

The Broncbusters built their biggest lead of the night when McGhee zipped a bullet pass to Naivalurua, who spun left and finished with a two-handed thump to make it 32-14 with 8:22 remaining. They were up 13 at the break.  

"We played with a ton of energy," Naubert added. "Guys were feeding off each other."

What was more impressive was how Garden City responded after Independence threw a few haymakers of their own in the second half. Johan Nziemi drained a pair of free throws, and Josh Smith made a layup and a free throw to help cap a 34-22 run that had the Pirates within six. But Elliott, who scored 25 of this team-high 20 points in the second half, got the Broncbusters back on track. He setup Logan Feltman for a 3-pointer at the top of the key on a pick-and-pop; then swished a wide-open triple from the wing. Later in the period, the sophomore guard threaded the needle to Naivalurua for back-to-back layups, and Garden City was back up by 14 with 4:52 to play.   

McGhee tallied 14 points, five assists, and four rebounds for the Broncbusters, which improved to 7-3 in their last 10 games. Harker added 13 points and was 3-of-6 from downtown in 31 minutes off the bench.  

Nziemi scored 21 points for Independence, which lost for the third time in their last four games.