Big second half propels Tigers to 90-66 win over Colby

Clinging to a 33-31 halftime lead, the Cowley College men's basketball team erupted for 57 second-half points in a 90-66 win over Colby Community College Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The victory improves Cowley's record to 15-12 overall and 9-12 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Colby falls to 5-22 overall and 2-19 in conference play.

"We finally got a run going in the second half, and the floodgates opened up for us," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

On Saturday, Tiger freshman Damare Smith broke out of his shooting slump to drain four first-half three-pointers as Cowley took a 33-31 halftime lead.

Fellow freshman Corey Thomas continued his solid play by scoring nine of his career-high 20 points in the opening half, while freshman Lam Kuany scored seven straight points to put Cowley in front 45-33 with 15 minutes left.

"Corey has got really good energy and is taking advantage of his opportunity," Jackson said. "Those three freshmen really stepped up for us."

The Tigers would go on to shoot 58.6 percent in the second half as they cruised to the 24-point win. Mekhi Cameron finished with 18 points, while Smith added 15 on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range.

Sophomore Xavier Washington also played well, finishing with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.

Joshua O'Garro led Colby with 20 points in the loss.

Cowley will play at No. 19-ranked Butler (18-7) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are 13-7 in the conference.

"Butler has had our number, so we will need to have a couple of good days of practice," Jackson said. "We need to find a way to win on the road because we are still playing for a home playoff game."

Box score:

Colby (66): Elijah Wood 0-3 0-0 0, Joshua O'Garro 7-16 5-6 20, Mike Bell 7-12 2-2 19, Marco Moreau 1-2 2-4 4, Anthony Sellars 3-5 7-8 13, Julius Morris 1-6 0-1 3, Luke Tolbert 1-1 0-0 3, Pablo Avalos 0-2 0-0 0, Bachir Camara 1-6 2-4 4. Totals: 21-53 18-25 66.

Cowley (90): Mekhi Cameron 5-13 6-7 18, Xavier Washington 3-7 6-6 14, Jeff Nwankwo 0-1 2-2 2, Mooch Austin 2-4 2-6 6, Corey Thomas 8-11 2-2 20, Damare Smith 5-10 0-0 15, Demetrius Rives 1-3 1-2 3, Trevion Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Lam Kuany 3-4 2-2 9, Jackson Greene 1-2 1-1 3. Totals: 28-56 22-28 90.

Photo provided by James Dill