Tigers win fifth straight home game, take down No. 10-ranked Hutchinson

Continuing to show it can beat anybody on its home court, the Cowley College men's basketball team knocked off No. 10-ranked Hutchinson Community College 83-80 in front of a large and boisterous home crowd Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

With five new members inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime of the game and the return of former Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme, the gym was filled with excitement.

The Tigers gave their home fans plenty to cheer about as they improved their record at home this season to 4-0 against ranked opponents.

Having played for and coached with DeSalme, Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson always seems to find a way to get the best out of his teams when the two square off. After a 76-75 loss at Hutchinson earlier this season, the Tigers got their payback on Saturday.

Buoyed by the strong crowd support, Cowley raced out to a 21-6 lead before settling for a 45-41 halftime advantage.

Cowley would lead by as many as nine points in the second half before the Blue Dragons rallied to lead 70-65 on a basket by former Tiger Jacquez Yow with just over six minutes left to play.

Cowley would regain the lead on a three-pointer by Raishaun Brown with 2:06 remaining and held on for the three-point win. The Tigers are now 12-10 overall and 8-8 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Brown finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

"Raishaun played an exceptional second half for us and put us on his back down the stretch," Jackson said.

Fellow sophomore Clarence King led Cowley with 21 points as the Tigers out-shot Hutchinson 50 percent to 39 percent from the floor.

Former Tiger Kobe Campbell led all scorers with 23 points but it was not enough as the Blue Dragons lost for the third time in five games to fall to 18-4 overall and 12-4 in the conference.

"Anytime you play against Coach DeSalme it is going to be a game of runs. Fortunately we made the last run," Jackson said.

The Tigers turned around and played its sixth game in 12 days on Monday as they suffered a 70-60 loss at Cloud County. Cowley trailed 32-24 at halftime and never got any closer in the second half as they fell to 12-11 overall and 8-9 in the conference.

King led Cowley with 17 points, while Mekhi Cameron added 11. Corey Sawyer led Cloud with 20 points as the T-Birds improve to 11-11 overall and 7-9 in conference play.

Cowley will play at Independence Saturday at 4 p.m. The Pirates are 9-14 overall and 6-11 in the conference.