Chanute –Rewind to a year ago the Blue Dragons came to Chanute ranked the #1 team in the country and it took the Dragons overtime to beat the Panthers 76 to 64. This year the Panthers traveled to Hutch to face the #2 ranked Blue Dragons. The Panthers entered the game 1-0 in the conference while the Blue Dragons entered the game 2-0 in conference play.
 
Early in the game, it looked to be a defensive battle as the Panthers went toe to toe with Hutch. The Panthers trailed by just two points with 3 minutes remaining in the first half but Hutch would go on a big 10 to 0 run to close the half. Neosho would head into the locker room at half down 12 points.
 
"I thought we did a nice job early of controlling the tempo of the game," Head coach Jeremy Coombs said, "We just had a two-minute spurt where we let the game get out of hand but other than that we played a pretty solid half of basketball."
 
In the second half, the Panthers would make a couple runs but never could get closer than eight points. The Panthers found themselves in foul trouble most of the second half as the Blue Dragons lived at the free-throw line. Hutch made 29 of 46 free-throws to Neosho's 9 of 10.
 
Freshman guard Trey Bates would lead all scorers with 23 points, hitting 4 of 8 3-pointers. Jonathan Breeland dropped in 17 while Corbett Kimberlin added 11.
 
The Panthers dropped in 13 three-pointers and went 26 of 64 from the field, had 14 assists and outrebounded the Dragons 38-34.
 
The Panthers will return home Saturday to take on the Northwest Tech Mavericks. Tip is set for 7:30 pm here at the Panther Gym.
 
"This is another team I haven't seen much of," said Coombs "So the focus for us over the next few days as we prepare will be on us and what we do."
 
For more information, go to www.goneosho.com or follow @GoNeoshoHoops or GoNeosho on Twitter for updates throughout the year.