The 19th-ranked Roadrunners got their first taste of life on the road Nov. 7-8 at the Dodge City Classic in Dodge City, Kansas.

SFCC (0-4) opened its portion of the classic Friday night against the host Dodge City Community College Conquistadors. The Roadrunners began the game on a 14-6 run courtesy of a layup from freshman guard Ra'Chaun Martin and extended their advantage to 21-11 later in the half.

"We were mentally prepared to play," said Roadrunners Assistant Coach Josh Sash. "We played pretty well and made some good shots; Dodge City struggled a little to guard us."

The Roadrunners led 36-34 at halftime. Dodge City pushed its advantage to 50-43 and SFCC fought back to tie the game with about six minutes left. Dodge City made the plays down the stretch to win 80-73.

Martin led four Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 22 points and dished out a team-high six assists. Freshman guard Joshua Bailey and freshman forward Clint Robinson contributed 13 points. Freshman Donnavan Hastings recorded a double double, pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds and scoring 11 points. Robinson also led the team in blocked shots with four.

On Saturday SFCC took on Barton Community College from Great Bend, Kansas. The Cougars jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. A three-point shot by sophomore guard Dondre Alexander tied the game at 11 with about 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Alexander splashed home another three to give SFCC its first lead of the game.

Barton took a 39-36 lead at halftime and made the plays in the second half to win 82-74.

Alexander led three Roadrunners in double-figure scoring with 29 points, knocking down seven of 10 shots from beyond the three-point arc.

"Dondre played really well," said Sash. "He gave great effort on both ends of the floor and made nice shots. Several times in the first half he was open and passed up a good shot to get a great shot for someone else."

Martin contributed 16 points, dished out a team-high eight assists and led the team in steals with four. Bailey added 10 points. Freshman forward Selvedin Planincic pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and led the team in blocked shots with seven.

SFCC will open a three-game home stand Nov. 11. The Roadrunners will host the St. Louis Community College Archers in the Missouri Community College Athletic Conference opener for SFCC. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics Department