Cold shooting dooms Cowley in 66-56 road loss

Shooting a season-low 29.8 percent from the floor, the Cowley College men's basketball team suffered a 66-56 loss to Seward County Saturday in Liberal, KS.

"It's tough to win shooting 29 percent," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "It's the same song, different day. We competed until the end, we have just got to find a way to score more points."

On Saturday, the Tigers fought back from an early seven-point deficit to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.

"Our transition defense in the first half was the best it has been all year," Jackson said.

However, the Saints would rally to lead by nine (53-44) following a three-pointer by Wilson Dubinsky with 6:32 remaining. A quick 7-0 run pulled the Tigers back within two (53-51) before Seward answered with back-to-back three-pointers and held on for the 10-point victory.

The Tigers made only 4-of-26 three-point attempts, while Seward made nine shots from long range in the second half and finished 12-of-33 from behind the arc.

Clarence King led Cowley with 13 points, but made only 4-of-13 shots from the floor. Freshman Christian Williams saw his most extensive action of the season and finished with three points and three rebounds while also taking a couple of charges.

"Christian has been working hard in practice and we benefited from his energy," Jackson said.

Seward's Erik Pratt came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points. The Saints are now 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the Jayhawk Conference, while the Tigers fall to 6-7 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

Cowley will attempt to snap its three-game skid and head into Winter Break with a win as they host Garden City Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Broncbusters (8-4 overall, 2-4 Jayhawk Conference) average 94 points per game and are led by Tone Hunter's 19.2 points per game.

"We have to come ready to play," Jackson said. "The team that wins on Monday will go into Christmas Break feeling a lot better about themselves."

Box score:

Cowley (56): Raishaun Brown 3-8 0-1 7, Mekhi Cameron 2-9 5-6 9, Xavier Washington 1-10 2-2 5, Kennedy Willis 5-7 0-2 10, KJ Spiller 0-0 3-4 3, Clarence King 4-13 4-5 13, Xavier Valley 0-3 0-0 0, Christian Williams 1-5 0-0 3, Trevion Alexander 0-0 0-1 0, Chris Spenkuch 1-2 4-6 6. Totals: 17-57 18-27 56.

Seward (66): Kevon Cooper 4-6 2-4 12, Surakata Jawara 0-2 0-1 0, Taye Donald 4-7 0-1 8, Wilson Dubinsky 4-10 0-0 12, Malachi McReed 2-5 1-3 5, Erik Pratt 6-17 2-3 17, Ahamadou Sillah 1-2 0-0 3, Jaylin Henderson 3-6 1-2 9, Ky'lyn Arnett 0-0 0-0 0, Joshua Lawson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-55 6-14 66.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-26 (Washington 4-7, Brown 1-4, Williams 1-3, King 1-3, Cameron 0-5, Willis 0-2, Valley 0-2), Seward 12-33 (Dubinsky 4-10, Pratt 3-10, Henderson 2-5, Cooper 2-4, Sillah 1-1, Jawara 0-1, Donald 0-1, McReed 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 39 (Brown, Washington, Spenkuch 6), Seward 30 (Cooper 8). Assists: Cowley 4 (King 2), Seward 12 (Donald 4). Turnovers: Cowley 17, Seward 16. Total fouls: Cowley 17, Seward 23. Fouled out: Washington. Technicals: none.