Cowley holds Garden City to season-low scoring output in 61-55 home win

Facing a Garden City team that entered Monday's game averaging 94 points per game, the Cowley College men's basketball team held the Broncbusters to a season-low 55 points in a 61-55 home win to close the first semester.

Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson was pleased to end the semester with a quality win.

"We have been in a lot of close games, and have been on the short end of some of those," Jackson said. "I am very proud of the guys for going out and finding a way to earn a hard fought win over a very talented Garden City team."

The first half featured three ties and five lead changes. A three-pointer by sophomore Clarence King, in the closing seconds of the first half, gave Cowley a 26-21 halftime advantage.

Mekhi Cameron went 4-for-4 from the floor and led the Tigers with 11 first half points.

"Mekhi really got off to a hot start," Jackson said. "We tried to ride his hot hand in the early going. He's more than capable of having some big offensive nights, we just need him to do it more consistently."

The Tigers' lead would grow to 34-27 following a three-pointer by Cameron. However, Garden City answered with an 11-2 run to lead 38-36 following a pair of free throws by Mohamed Diarra with 14:47 remaining.

The Broncbusters' lead would be short-lived as Cowley would score 10 straight points to go in front 46-38 with 9:40 left to play.

Once again, Garden City rallied. A dunk by Micah Octave put the Broncbusters back in front 51-49 with just under five minutes remaining.

After not scoring all game, sophomore transfer Kennedy Willis scored six of the next eight points for Cowley and the Tigers closed the game on a 12-4 run to improve their record to 7-7 overall and 3-5 in the Jayhawk Conference.

"Kennedy came up with some big defensive rebounds down the stretch and had some key buckets," Jackson said. "When he needed to, he made some plays when it mattered."

Cameron led Cowley with 18 points and seven rebounds, while King (CK) added 15 points and eight boards.

"CK was our game MVP. His shot right before half gave us some momentum and he made the play of the game with a drop off pass to Kennedy in a key moment," Jackson said. "It was even more important because we had just talked about that during a timeout."

Mohamed Diarra led Garden City with 20 points and 18 rebounds, but also committed five turnovers. The Broncbusters are now 8-5 overall and 2-5 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Cowley will have a much needed break before returning to host Colby Community College Wednesday, January 5 at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans are 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

"It doesn't get any easier coming back from break with Colby and Butler right away," Jackson said. "We need to enjoy time with family and then be ready to get back to work."

Box score:

Garden City (55): Heru Bligen 3-8 5-6 11, Tone Hunter 3-12 4-6 10, Marko Dosen 1-5 0-0 2, Mohamed Diarra 3-11 12-16 18, Jyre McCLoud 1-5 1-5 3, Rodney Lewis 2-7 0-0 5, Zac Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Micah Octave 1-3 0-0 2, Riny Lual 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-57 22-33 55.

Cowley (61): Raishaun Brown 4-9 3-4 12, Mekhi Cameron 6-9 4-4 18, Xavier Washington 2-9 0-1 4, Clarence King 4-8 6-9 15, Kennedy Willis 3-10 0-0 6, Emmanuel Austin 0-2 0-0 0, Xavier Valley 1-3 1-2 4, Christian Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Trevion Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0, KJ Spiller 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-53 14-20 61.

Three-pointers: Garden City 3-16 (Diarra 2-2, Lewis 1-3, Hunter 0-4, Taylor 0-4, Bligen 0-1, Dosen 0-1, Octave 0-1), Cowley 5-20 (Cameron 2-5, Brown 1-5, Valley 1-3, King 1-1, Washington 0-4, Austin 0-1, Williams 0-1). Rebounds: Garden City 38 (Diarra 18), Cowley 34 (King, Willis 8). Assists: Garden City 5 (Hunter 2), Cowley 8 (Brown 3). Turnovers: Garden City 13, Cowley 12. Total fouls: Garden City 16, Cowley 22. Fouled out: Willis. Technicals: none.