Nwankwo powers Tiger basketball team to a pair of home wins

Opening the season at home, Cowley College sophomore Jeff Nwankwo showed he is ready to take a big step forward in the 2023 season as he scored 20 points in a pair of Tiger home wins.

The Tiger men's basketball team opened play with a 74-70 win over Eastern Oklahoma State College on Friday before blasting Labette 87-49 on Saturday.

"It was good to start the season with two quality wins," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "It was also good to get some real in-game experiences so that we know what we need to improve on."

On Friday, Cowley and Eastern Oklahoma traded baskets for the majority of the first half before the Tigers were able to take a 37-35 lead into the halftime intermission. Cowley would out-score the Mountaineers 15-3 to open the second half as they built a 52-38 lead.

However, Eastern Oklahoma fought back within 62-60 following a three-pointer by Jamouri McCallister with 4:43 left to play.

Cowley responded by scoring the next seven points and held on for the four-point win.

"We played with good energy, made some mistakes along the way, but found a way to take care of home court," Jackson said.

Nwankwo went only 5-of-19 shooting from the floor but made 7-of-9 free throw attempts as he finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Fellow sophomores Corey Thomas (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Damare Smith (12 points) also scored in double figures.

"Our sophomores did a good job of leading the way for us. We will go as far as they lead us," Jackson said.

Freshmen Leslie Owens and Marcus Zeigler added eight and seven points, respectively, in their Tiger debuts.

Jackson Greene led Eastern Oklahoma State with 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

On Saturday, Cowley raced out to a 26-4 lead over Labette en route to a commanding 49-14 halftime advantage.

The Tigers' lead would grow to as many as 52 points (74-22) following a jumper by Owens with 11:09 left to play.

Nwankwo scored 20 points for the second straight game as he went 8-of-13 from the floor. He added six rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Arzhonte Dallas added 16 points, while Avante Nichols and Thomas chipped in with nine points apiece.

Cowley out-shot Labette 50 percent to 26.3 percent from the floor. Mohammad Maxamud led Labette with 11 points.

The Tigers (2-0) will now prepare to play at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Mavericks are 1-1 on the season following a 77-56 win at Seward County and a 91-90 loss to second-ranked South Plains College on Sunday in Enid, OK.

"NOC-Tonkawa is a very sophomore-heavy team," Jackson said. "They have really good guard play and a good big. With the rival game element a factor as well, we will need to clean a few things up if we want to give ourselves a chance on the road and in their home opener."