Cowley moves within one win of first Region VI title since 1956-57 season

Forcing third-seeded Barton County into 29 turnovers, the No. 15-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team defeated the Cougars 104-77 in the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament played Friday at Friends University in Wichita, KS.

With the win, Cowley (20-4) advances to face top-seeded Hutchinson Community College Saturday at 8 p.m. in the championship game of the Region VI Tournament. The Blue Dragons defeated No. 4-seed Coffeyville 76-75 to improve to 18-5 on the season.

Cowley sophomore Mike'l Henderson scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the second half as the Tigers out-scored Barton 51-24 over the final 20 minutes of play.

Friday's game was back and forth to start with four ties and five lead changes in the first six minutes. With the score tied at 14-14, Cowley went on an 11-0 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Cevin Clark with 12:10 left in the opening half.

Barton would pull within 43-39 with five minutes left in the first half and eventually grabbed a 48-47 lead on a three-point play by Jahiem Holden with 2:31 left before halftime. The teams would go into the half tied at 53-53.

Cowley forced Barton into 16 first half turnovers, but the Cougars made up for it by shooting 63 percent from the floor. Evans Kipruto, a 6'8 freshman, led Barton with 18 first half points on 8-of-8 shooting.

Sophomore Dalen Ridgnal scored 13 first half points to lead the Tigers.

Tiger sophomore Shemarri Allen scored five points in the first 30 seconds of the second half and Cowley out-scored Barton 12-0 before the Cougars finally scored. The Tigers' advantage would balloon to 83-62 following a three-pointer by Clark with 11:50 remaining.

Cowley would go on to lead by as many as 31 points. Joining Henderson in double figures was Ridgnal (22 points), Clark (17 points), Allen (17 points), and Moun'tae Edmundson (15 points).

"Those sophomores were not going to let us lose," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said.

Cowley out-shot Barton 60.7 percent to 24.2 percent in the second half. The Tigers also finished with an amazing 24 steals.

Kipruto led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting as Barton finishes the season with a record of 16-9.

With a win on Saturday, the Tigers would capture its first region title in 64 years and qualify for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament for the second straight season.

"We have talked about the chance to accomplish this the last couple of years," DeSalme said. "There is a lot of history between Hutchinson and Cowley. We have got to lay it all on the floor and see what happens."

Box score:

Barton (77): Justin Harmon 4-12 4-4 12, Desean Munson 2-5 1-2 5, Jaheim Holden 4-11 1-1 10, Shawn Warrior 4-10 1-2 10, Evans Kipruto 10-11 4-6 24, Joe Jones 1-2 2-2 4, Jarin Koehler 1-3 1-1 3, Asanti Price 2-6 0-0 6, Thomas King 0-0 0-1 0, Willie Lapoole 1-2 0-0 2, Camero Brooks-Harris 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 29-64 15-21 77.

Cowley (104): Mike'l Henderson 8-14 3-4 22, Moun'tae Edmundson 5-11 1-2 15, Shemarri Allen 5-7 6-7 17, Cevin Clark 6-15 0-1 17, Dalen Ridgnal 8-10 4-5 22, Kobe Campbell 0-2 1-2 1, Clarence King 1-1 0-0 2, Raishaun Brown 3-8 1-2 7, Cameron Robins 0-1 0-0 0, Titas Mikalopas 0-0 0-0 0, Jayden McCray 0-1 0-0 0, Tarese Morse 0-0 0-0 0, Jacquez Yow 0-2 1-3 1, Josiah Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Biar Garang 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 36-74 17-26 104.

Three-pointers: Barton 4-17 (Price 2-5, Holden 1-3, Warrior 1-2, Brooks-Harris 0-2, Koehler 0-2, Harmon 0-1, Jones 0-1, Lapoole 0-1), Cowley 15-34 (Clark 5-13, Henderson 4-9, Edmundson 4-9, Ridgnal 2-3, Allen 1-1, Brown 0-2). Rebounds: Barton 43 (Harmon 9), Cowley 52 (Ridgnal 11). Assists: Barton 11 (Holden 5), Cowley 15 (Allen 6). Turnovers: Barton 29, Cowley 20. Total fouls: Barton 20, Cowley 21. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.