Tigers score season-high in 92-77 win at Independence

Shooting 55 percent from the floor and three-point line, the Cowley College men's basketball team scored a season-high 92 points in a 92-77 win at Independence Community College on Saturday.

The Tigers shot 64 percent in the opening half as they built a 49-33 halftime lead.

Independence would close within 58-48 on a basket by Ian Hardy with 11:43 left to play, before Cowley answered with seven straight points. The Tigers' lead would balloon to as many as 21 points in the 15-point road win.

The 92 points eclipsed Cowley's previous season-high of 83 points scored in its win over Hutchinson on January 29.

"It felt good to score over 90 points, I thought we were going to have a parade after the game," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson sarcastically said.

Saturday's game was a stark contrast from Cowley's 85-67 home loss to Independence back on December 8.

"We remembered how the wheels fell off against Indy at our place and had the mind set to prove we are better than that," Jackson said.

Sophomore Clarence King (C.K.) scored 17 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, while Mekhi Cameron added 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

"Those guys have proven they can do this, they just need to do it on a more consistent basis," Jackson said. "C.K. was very aggressive and Mekhi did a good job of posting up."

The victory improves Cowley's record to 13-11 overall and 9-9 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Jordan Clark led Independence with 24 points as the Pirates are now 10-15 overall and 7-12 in the conference.

Cowley will return home to face Seward County Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Saints are 9-16 overall and 6-13 in the conference. However, Seward defeated Cowley 66-56 back on December 11.

"We will work on tightening some things up before Wednesday as Seward is an important game for us," Jackson said. "We need to protect our home court and try to get a home playoff game."

The Tigers have won five games in a row at home and are 8-3 on the season at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Box score:

Cowley (92): Raishaun Brown 3-9 2-2 10, Mekhi Cameron 9-12 3-4 24, Clarence King 10-16 8-10 29, Xavier Valley 5-11 0-1 12, Trevion Alexander 1-3 2-2 4, Xavier Washington 1-2 2-2 4, Emmanuel Austin 1-1 0-0 2, Christian Williams 2-4 1-2 7, Kennedy Willis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 32-58 18-23 92.

Indy (77): Rodney Munson 4-11 0-2 9, Precious Okoh 3-12 0-0 8, Jordan Clark 7-13 9-10 24, Johan Nziemi 4-8 1-1 9, Ty Butner 6-9 3-4 15, Ian Hardy 3-6 2-7 8, Shamann Artis 1-5 0-0 3, Paul Mathews 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 28-64 16-26 77.

Three-pointers: Cowley 10-18 (Cameron 3-5, Brown 2-4, Williams 2-4, Valley 2-2, King 1-3), Indy 5-22 (Okoh 2-8, Artis 1-4, Clark 1-3, Munson 1-3, Hardy 0-3, Nziemi 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 35 (King 8), Indy 34 (Butner 10). Assists: Cowley 10 (Cameron, Spiller 2), Indy 6 (Munson 2). Turnovers: Cowley 15, Indy 10. Total fouls: Cowley 22, Indy 17. Fouled out: Valley, Alexander, Nziemi. Technicals: none.