Jernigan’s big night helps Tigers to rare win at NOC-Tonkawa

It had been 10 years since the Cowley College men's basketball team last won a game at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa. However, thanks to Cameron Jernigan's big night, the Tigers ended that streak with a 63-55 road win Wednesday in Tonkawa, OK.

Jernigan, a 6'8" sophomore transfer from Tarleton State, had some thunder dunks and finished with a season-high 17 points and 16 rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line.

"Cameron rebounded and blocked shots at a high level," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "His dunks definitely gave us some good momentum when we needed it."

Cowley held a slim 27-26 halftime advantage before falling behind in the first few minutes of the second half. The Tigers would use a 16-6 run to lead 45-38 with 10:07 remaining before the Mavericks closed within 53-51. After NOC missed a chance to tie the game, Cowley sophomore Raishaun Brown scored to put Cowley up four (55-51). A slam dunk by Xavier Washington in the final minute helped seal the eight-point road win.

Jackson, who went 8-0 at home against the Tigers, while the head coach at NOC-Tonkawa, knows how tough it is to win as a road team visiting Foster-Piper Fieldhouse.

"It was a typical Cowley/NOC-Tonkawa game. It was physical and intense," Jackson said. "We got off to a sluggish start, but I thought we were fine once we settled in."

Tiger sophomore Mekhi Cameron, who signed a letter of intent with the University of Northern Colorado earlier in the day, added 16 points.

"Mekhi and Rai made timely shots and plays throughout the game," Jackson said.

Cowley improves its record to 4-0 on the season, while NOC-Tonkawa falls to 2-4. The Mavericks, which were swept in the season series, were led by Kiya Randolph and Montrez Ward with 14 points apiece.

Cowley will return home to face Bethel College Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

"We have one more tune-up game before conference play, so we need to take advantage of the time we have to keep taking steps forward,"

Box score:

NOC-Tonkawa (55): No stats for NOC-Tonkawa.

Cowley (63): Raishaun Brown 2-7 3-4 7, Mekhi Cameron 5-12 2-2 16, Xavier Washington 2-7 3-4 7, Xavier Valley 0-2 0-0 0, Trevion Alexander 1-3 0-1 2, Mooch Austin 2-6 0-0 4, Damare Smith 1-3 0-0 3, Demetrius Rives 3-6 0-0 6, Cameron Jernigan 5-6 7-8 17, Kobe Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Greene 0-0 0-0 0, Corey Thomas 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 21-55 16-21 63.