Tigers lose 80-79 heartbreaker in home finale

Needing a win to host the First-Round of the Region VI Playoffs, the Cowley College men's basketball team led for all but 30 seconds of the second half but came up on the short end of an 80-79 defeat against Pratt Community College Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley turned the ball over twice in the final minute, allowing the Beavers to score the final four points. The last basket came when Pratt's Quintin Metcalf scored inside with 21.2 seconds remaining. With a chance for the win, Cowley's Mekhi Cameron missed a runner inside and Jeff Nwankwo's follow dunk bounced out. However, Xavier Washington grabbed the rebound and his shot from five-feet away rimmed off as the buzzer sounded.

"This one hurts," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We gave it our best shot and the guys competed hard. Personally, I wanted this one for the sophomore class pretty badly."

The victory earned Pratt (16-13) the sixth seed in the Region Tournament, while the Tigers (16-14) dropped to the ninth seed in the tourney with a conference mark of 10-14. Cowley will have to travel to Concordia, KS, to take on eighth-seeded Cloud County Saturday at 4 p.m.

On Wednesday, Cowley shot 53 percent while building a 43-37 halftime lead. The Tigers' lead would grow to 46-37 early in the second half before Pratt rallied to grab a 64-62 lead on a three-pointer by Qai Kellman with eight minutes left. The Beavers' lead would be short-lived as Cameron drained a three-pointer only 10 seconds later.

Cowley would go on to score nine straight points and did not trail again until Metcalf's basket with 21.2 seconds left.

"Weird plays in the last minute of the game have just seemed to haunt us this year," Jackson said. "While we have won our fair share of close games, the ones we have lost have come down to one or two plays down the stretch. This one is a head scratcher for sure."

Cameron went 5-of-10 from three-point range and led all scorers with 24 points. The sophomore from Atlanta, GA, moved into 16^th place on Cowley's all-time scoring list with 951 career points.

Nwankwo added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Mooch Austin added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Chidiebere Obichere led Pratt with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Cowley will look to bounce back as they swept the season-series against Cloud County, most recently defeating the T-Birds 69-56 February 25 in Concordia. Cloud finished the regular season with a record of 15-15 overall and 11-13 in the conference.

"Fortunately, a new season begins, everyone is 0-0," Jackson said. "We have to take the road less traveled and go on the road. Anything can happen in the playoffs."

Box score:

Pratt (80): Sterling Young 8-16 2-2 20, Jaylen Davis 1-2 2-2 4, Quintin Metcalf 3-5 4-5 10, Qai Kellman 5-8 0-0 13, Chidiebere Obichere 6-17 8-12 21, Davonte Russ 0-0 0-0 0, Rodney Bailey 4-7 0-1 8, Aviel Palmer 0-0 4-4 4, Enrique Lankford 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 27-57 20-26 80.

Cowley (79): Mekhi Cameron 6-13 7-8 24, Xavier Washington 2-5 3-3 8, Jeff Nwankwo 4-11 4-4 13, Mooch Austin 6-10 0-0 13, Corey Thomas 3-7 0-0 8, Damare Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Demetrius Rives 0-2 1-2 1, Travion Alexander 0-0 2-2 2, Lam Kuany 3-3 0-1 6. Totals: 26-55 17-20 79.

Three-pointers: Pratt 6-20 (Kellman 3-5, Young 2-8, Obichere 1-4, Lankford 0-2, Bailey 0-1), Cowley 10-28 (Cameron 5-10, Thomas 2-4, Nwankwo 1-5, Washington 1-4, Austin 1-2, Smith 0-2, Rives 0-1). Rebounds: Pratt 29 (Obichere 11), Cowley 25 (Nwankwo 11). Assists: Pratt 8 (three players with 2), Cowley 9 (Thomas 3). Total fouls: Pratt 15, Cowley 21. Fouled out: Thomas. Technicals: none.