Tigers move within one game of back-to-back conference titles

Winning its eighth straight game and moving within one victory of its second straight Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title, the No. 15-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team blasted Cloud County 124-99 Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley is now 17-4 overall and 17-2 in the Jayhawk East. The Tigers can gain a share of the conference title with a win at Neosho on Friday as Coffeyville has already wrapped up conference play with a record of 18-2.

Trailing 21-17 seven minutes into Wednesday's game, Cowley used a 10-0 run to go in front 27-21.

The first half would remain close, with the Tigers clinging to a 54-51 lead before closing the half on a 16-6 run to take a 70-57 halftime lead.

Dalen Ridgnal scored 25 first half points, while Moun'tae Edmundson added 17 as the duo combined for 42 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Tigers would go 12-of-29 from three-point range in the opening half and finished with 17 treys on the game.

"We were really good from the perimeter, especially in the first half," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said. "I also thought our up court, defensive pressure, was much better the last 30 minutes of the game."

A 12-0 run helped the Tigers' lead balloon to 96-68 following a three-pointer by Edmundson with 12:15 remaining. Cowley would go on to eclipse the century mark on a three-pointer by sophomore Biar Garang with 8:37 left to play and led by as many as 30 points in the victory.

Edmundson went 7-of-14 from three-point range and finished with a career-high 28 points.

With a big, second half lead, Ridgnal played only four minutes after halftime but still finished with 28 points and nine rebounds.

Cowley dominated the glass as they had 34 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the T-Birds 64-38. The Tigers used those 34 offensive rebounds to out-score Cloud County 31-9 on second chance points.

"This needs to be a consistent thing for us to give us more opportunities to score after an offensive rebound," DeSalme said.

Nearly everyone on the roster played, including 5'8 freshman Camron Robins, who contributed two points, two assists and a steal in eight minutes off the bench.

"Camron gave us a spark by playing hard-nosed defense and he also got the ball moving on the offensive end," DeSalme said.

David Acosta, a 6'10 sophomore, led Cloud County with 25 points and nine rebounds in the loss. The T-Birds (6-16) finished last in the Jayhawk East with a conference record of 4-16.

Cowley will wrap up the regular season by playing at Neosho County Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers (8-13) are 6-13 in the Jayhawk East. Friday's contest will be the fourth game in seven days for the Tigers.

"The guys know what is at stake," DeSalme said. "We want to have fun and attack the moment."

Box score:

Cloud (99): Zavien Smith 5-9 7-7 18, Savian Edwards 4-9 5-7 14, Dyelan Reed 2-6 0-0 5, Eduardo Peralta-Garcia 5-8 2-3 13, Ibrahim Drame 3-5 6-9 12, Daniel Moose 2-6 1-2 5, Malang Athian 1-6 0-1 2, Jacob Rosenbaum 0-2 0-0 0, David Acosta 10-13 5-9 25, Brandon Colston 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Beetch 2-7 0-0 5. Totals: 34-71 26-38 99.

Cowley (124): Mike'l Henderson 4-13 6-7 15, Moun'tae Edmundson 10-17 1-2 28, Cevin Clark 4-9 1-2 11, Dalen Ridgnal 9-18 5-5 28, Tarese Morse 3-5 1-2 8, Kobe Campbell 3-10 2-3 8, Shemarri Allen 4-5 3-4 11, Raishaun Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Camron Robins 1-3 0-0 2, Jayden McCray 0-2 0-0 0, Jacquez Yow 2-6 2-2 6, Josiah Harris 1-4 2-2 4, Biar Garang 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 42-98 23-29 124.

Three-pointers: Cloud 5-16 (Beetch 1-4, Reed 1-3, Peralta-Garcia 1-2, Smith 1-2, Edwards 1-2, Rosenbaum 0-2, Athian 0-1), Cowley 17-52 (Edmundson 7-14, Ridgnal 5-11, Clark 2-7, Henderson 1-6, Garang 1-2, Morse 1-1, Campbell 0-4, Yow 0-2, Allen 0-2, Brown 0-1, Robins 0-1, McCray 0-1). Rebounds: Cloud 38 (Acosta 8), Cowley 64 (Ridgnal 9). Assists: Cloud 12 (Smith 5), Cowley 22 (Henderson, Clark 4). Turnovers: Cloud 22, Cowley 19. Total fouls: Cloud 20, Cowley 26. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.