Tigers defeat Seward, move above. 500 in conference play

The Cowley College men's basketball team trailed Seward County for the first 31 minutes of Wednesday's home game before closing the game on a 35-8 run to win 73-55. The victory, Cowley's fourth in its past five games, moves the Tigers (14-10) above .500 in the Jayhawk Conference for the first time this season with a record of 10-9.

After opening the season 2-5 in conference play, the Tigers have won eight of their past 12 games to vault up to sixth place in the 13-team conference, just one half game behind fifth place Coffeyville.

On Wednesday, Cowley trailed 15-5 five minutes into the game and 21-7 following a basket by Harvin Iburguen with 11:09 left in the first half. The Tigers would cut their deficit to 32-28 at the end of the first half.

With leading scorer Clarence King being held to eight points in the contest, Xavier Valley kept Cowley in the game early by scoring 10 of his 16 points in the opening half.

"Earlier this season if Clarence didn't play his best there was no way we would win," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "Clarence had a tough shooting night, but still contributed with his rebounding and assists. We had other guys step up including Xavier, who got us back in the game."

Cowley still trailed 47-38 after a three-pointer by Seward's Wilson Dubinsky with 12:35 remaining. Five minutes later, Cowley would grab its first lead of the game at 51-50 after back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Mekhi Cameron. Cowley would out-score the Saints 29-3 over an 11 minute span of the second half. Cameron scored 16 of his game-high 21 points during the decisive run as the 6'4 guard finished 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point range.

"Mekhi has been taking way better shots this second semester," Jackson said. "When he has open shots, he better take it. He made Seward pay for leaving him open."

Raishaun Brown added 14 points, while Xavier Washington came off the bench to finish with 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Wilson Dubinsky led the Saints with 17 points but it was not enough to stop Seward (9-17) from dropping its fifth straight game. Cowley out-shot Seward 54 percent to 38.6 percent from the floor as the Saints are now 6-14 in conference play.

The Tigers will now prepare to play at No. 17-ranked Garden City Saturday at 4 p.m. The Broncbusters (19-6) are in second place behind Dodge City in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 13-6 and average 93 points per game.

"Garden likes to play at a fast pace, so we need to be able to handle their press," Jackson said.

Box score:

Seward (55): Branton "Bee" McCrary, 6-14 0-0 12, Kevon Cooper 1-3 3-4 5, Taye Donald 3-12 0-2 8, Harvin Ibarguen 3-6 0-0 6, Wilson Dubinsky 6-11 3-3 17, Jaylin Henderson 3-6 0-0 7, KD Arnett 0-5 0-0 0, Tre Stafford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-57 6-9 55.

Cowley (73): Raishaun Brown 6-11 0-0 14, Mekhi Cameron 8-10 0-0 21, Clarence King 2-10 4-7 8, Xavier Valley 6-10 1-1 16, Trevion Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Xavier Washington 4-7 2-2 10, Emmanuel Austin 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Spenkuch 1-1 2-2 4, Christian Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Kennedy Willis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-50 9-12 73.

Three-pointers: Seward 5-18 (Donald 2-7, Dubinsky 2-5, Henderson 1-2, Arnett 0-3, Cooper 0-1), Cowley 10-22 (Cameron 5-6, Valley 3-6, Brown 2-6, King 0-2, Washington 0-1, Austin 0-1). Rebounds: Seward 20 (McCrary 8), Cowley 31 (Valley, Washington 6). Assists: Seward 7 (three players with 2), Cowley 17 (King 6). Turnovers: Seward 8, Cowley 16. Total fouls: Seward 17, Cowley 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Washington, Cowley bench.