Cowley holds off T-Bird rally to win 106-98

In a battle of teams going in opposite directions, the No. 22-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team kept Cloud County reeling with a 106-98 win Saturday in Concordia, KS. The victory was the 10^th in the last 11 games for the Tigers, while the T-Birds have lost eight games in a row.

The Tigers blistered the nets early on as they led 33-19 midway through the opening half and stretched their lead to 51-23 following a three-pointer by Mike'l Henderson with 4:46 left before halftime.

The Tigers would take a 20-point lead (54-34) into halftime and maintained a 80-61 advantage before the T-Birds used a 23-9 run to pull within 90-84 following a dunk by Ibrahim Drame with 5:53 left to play.

A pair of David Acosta free throws cut Cowley's lead to 93-89 with 3:06 remaining. However, a three-point play by the Tigers' Shemarri Allen helped give Cowley a three-possession lead and Cowley held on for the eight-point win.

"We had some guys kind of shut it down after we jumped out to the big lead," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said. "Their size is a tough matchup for us and gave us some problems. But, we will never apologize for a road victory because they are hard to come by."

Henderson went 6-of-9 from three-point range and led all scorers with 27 points. The sophomore guard also led the Tigers with nine assists. Dalen Ridgnal finished with 26 points and 10 boards, while Moun'tae Edmundson finished with 21 points.

"Those three stepped up and made sure we were not going to lose," DeSalme said.

Cowley had seven different players make at least one three-point attempt as they went 17-of-41 from three-point range in the victory.

Zavien Smith led Cloud with 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds. The T-Birds are now 4-11 overall and 2-11 in the Jayhawk East.

The Tigers will remain on the road to play at Independence Wednesday at 7 p.m. Indy (10-5) is currently fourth in the Jayhawk East with a record of 8-5.

"This will be a big ball game for both teams," DeSalme said. "We will need to bring our home court energy on the road with us."

Box score:

Cowley (106): Mike'l Henderson 8-15 5-7 27, Clarence King 2-3 0-0 4, Moun'tae Edmundson 7-17 3-3 21, Cevin Clark 2-7 0-0 5, Dalen Ridgnal 10-17 3-4 26, Kobe Campbell 2-3 0-0 5, Shemarri Allen 2-5 1-1 6, Raishaun Brown 3-7 0-0 7, Cameron Robins 0-1 0-0 0, Jayden McCray 0-0 0-0 0, Tarese Morse 0-3 0-0 0, Jacquez Yow 1-6 1-2 3, Josiah Harris 1-3 0-0 2, Biar Garang 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-88 13-17 106.

Cloud (98): Zavien Smith 8-15 3-3 22, Savian Edwards 7-13 2-4 19, Dyelan Reed 2-6 0-0 6, Detavius Frierson 7-10 3-5 17, David Acosta 3-9 4-5 10, Ibrahim Drame 8-13 4-5 20, Brandon Colston 0-0 0-0 0, Rayquan Valentin 0-1 0-0 0, Travis Beetch 0-2 0-0 0, Eduardo Peralta-Garcia 0-2 0-0 0, Daniel Moose 0-0 0-0 0, Malang Athian 1-2 1-2 4. Totals: 36-73 17-24 98.

Three-pointers: Cowley 17-41 (Henderson 6-9, Edmundson 4-12, Ridgnal 3-7, Clark 1-5, Allen 1-3, Brown 1-3, Campbell 1-1, Garang 0-1), Cloud 9-24 (Smith 3-6, Edwards 3-7, Reed 2-5, Athian 1-2, Peralta-Garcia 0-2, Beetch 0-1, Valentin 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 42 (Ridgnal 10), Cloud 50 (Drame 12). Assists: Cowley 20 (Henderson 9), Cloud 19 (Smith 7). Turnovers: Cowley 11, Cloud 22. Total fouls: Cowley 19, Cloud 18. Fouled out: none. Technicals none.