Tigers rally for 89-83 road win at Colby

Getting six players to score in double figures, the Cowley College men's basketball team returned from a three-week absence to win Wednesday night at Colby Community College by a score of 89-83.

The Tigers trailed by as many as 11 points (32-21) as they went into halftime trailing 45-42.

Cowley would grab its first lead of the second half at 60-59 following a three-pointer by freshman Damare Smith.

The game would remain tight the rest of the way as Cowley clung to an 83-81 lead in the game's final minute of play. Needing to make its free throws, the Tigers would go 6-of-6 from the foul line to close the game out.

Cowley finished 20-of-23 from the free-throw line, while Colby made just 15 of its 24 free-throw attempts.

"It was a good team win," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "You could tell neither team was in their top shape. It was basically a game of who wouldn't tire out first. There wasn't much defense being played by either side, but both teams did play hard, and we were fortunate to outlast them at the end."

Cowley is now 10-5 overall and 4-5 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Freshman guard Damare Smith came off the bench to go 5-of-10 from three-point range and finish with a career-high 20 points. Smith shared team-high honors with Mekhi Cameron, who finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Cameron Jernigan added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as Cowley out-rebounded Colby 44-33.

Demetrius Rives also played well as he went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with 13 points for the Tigers, while Jeff Nwankwo and Mooch Austin added 10 points apiece.

"We played a lot of guys and were subbing pretty quickly," Jackson said. "We had a few guys step up, so that was good to see."

Colby's Anthony Sellars led all scorers with 25 points, while Joshua O'Garro added 23. After winning its opening game in the conference, Colby (4-11) has dropped eight straight games.

Cowley, winners of two straight road games, will return home to face Butler Community College Saturday at 3 p.m. The Grizzlies are 11-4 overall and 5-4 in the conference.

"Butler is a very good team," Jackson said. "Very physical, experienced, and well coached. We will have our hands full."

Box score:

Cowley (89): Jeff Nwankwo 3-8 4-4 11, Cameron Jernigan 3-5 4-5 10, Mekhi Cameron 5-15 8-8 20, Mooch Austin 4-6 0-0 10, Demetrius Rives 5-6 0-0 13, Xavier Washington 1-2 2-2 4, Xavier Valley 0-6 1-2 1, Damare Smith 7-13 1-2 20, Trevion Alexander 0-3 0-0 0, Jackson Greene 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-64 20-23 89.

Colby (83): Joshua O'Garro 8-16 6-8 23, Mike Bell 5-15 0-0 12, Marco Moreau 2-3 1-3 6, Anthony Sellers 8-11 7-10 25, Jaxon Pillich 0-4 0-0 0, Julius Moore 1-5 0-0 3, Elijah Wood 3-7 1-3 10, Luke Tolbert 0-1 0-0 0, Bachir Camara 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 29-64 15-24 83.

Three-pointers: Cowley 13-36 (Smith 5-10, Rives 3-4, Cameron 2-9, Austin 2-2, Nwankwo 1-6, Valley 0-5), Colby 10-25 (Wood 3-6, Bell 2-7, Sellars 2-3, O'Garro 1-4, Morris 1-3, Moreau 1-1, Tolbert 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 44 (Jernigan 10), Colby 33 (Pillich 7). Assists: Cowley 12 (Austin, Rives 3), Colby 11 (Sellars 3). Turnovers: Cowley 20, Colby 19. Total fouls: Cowley 21, Colby 19. Fouled out: Rives, Pillich. Technicals: Sellars.