Tigers win a pair of games in Iola to improve to 4-1

The Cowley College men's basketball team put a tough overtime loss at NOC-Tonkawa behind them as they returned to the court less than 48 hours later and won a pair of games in Iola, KS. The Tigers opened with an 80-63 win over host Allen Community College on Friday before taking down Labette Community College by a score of 79-54 on Saturday.

Sophomore Arzhonte Dallas led five Cowley players in double figures with 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Making his first start of the season, Leslie Owens recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.

Cowley built a 40-25 halftime lead against Allen and was in control throughout the 17-point win.

"We got off to a good start against Allen," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We got the ball inside more often, and I thought that paid off with some easier shots. We were able to maintain the lead over the course of the game, and we made some timely shots every time Allen was about to make a run."

Killian Spellman led the Red Devils with 25 points.

After scoring just 27 points in the first half of its game against Labette on Saturday, the Tigers out-scored the Cardinals 52-36 in the second half of the 25-point win.  Cowley out-shot Labette 56.3 percent to 40 percent from the floor.

"It was a little bit of a grinder against Labette," Jackson said. "We had a very slow start, but at the beginning of the second half, our energy level picked up. We were able to push out a lead and maintain it. Credit to Labette for mucking up the game. It took us a while to adjust."

Nwankwo again led the way for Cowley with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Arzhante Dallas added 15 points and five rebounds while going 6-of-8 from the floor. Avante Nichols (13 points) and Damare Smith (10) also played well in the win.

Christian Yeates and Nickhai Howard scored 10 points a piece for Labette.

Cowley will return home to face a Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa team that rallied to defeat the Tigers in overtime on November 8 in a game played in Tonkawa, OK.

"We still have some things we need to work on and are a work in progress in some areas, but these guys have been coachable and fun to be around," Jackson said. "We just need to keep getting better. Tonkawa is a good and tough team with several offensive weapons. We will need to make a few adjustments to try and work for a split in the season series."

Box score from Friday:

Cowley (80): Jeff Nwankwo 5-10 3-4 16, Arzhonte Dallas 8-15 2-4 20, Damare Smith 1-5 0-0 3, Leslie Owens 6-8 1-1 13, Corey Thomas 4-5 1-2 10, Shamarrie Hugie 2-4 0-0 4, Avante Nichols 3-4 5-6 11, Marcus Ziegler 1-5 0-0 2, David Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Brown 0-2 1-3 1, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-58 13-20 80.

Allen (63): EJ Lewis 2-7 3-4 8, David Teale 1-9 1-2 3, Dante Jackson 2-6 1-1 5, Killian Spellman 7-14 4-5 20, Dirk Johnson 2-2 2-2 6, Randy Crosby 4-9 5-7 14, LJ Hill 0-0 1-2 1, Grayson Ryan 2-5 0-0 6, Christian Tarango 0-0 0-0 0, Jayshawn Dodds 0-0 0-0 0, Tyonn Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-52 17-23 63.

Three-pointers: Cowley 7-18 (Nwankwo 3-6, Dallas 2-3, Smith 1-3, Thomas 1-1, Brown 0-2, Zeigler 0-2, Hugie 0-1, Allen 6-27 (Spellman 2-6, Ryan 2-5, Lewis 1-5, Crosby 1-5, Teele 0-3, Jackson 0-3). Rebounds: Cowley 45 (Owens 10), Allen 22 (Spellman 6). Assists: Cowley 17 (Dallas 6), Allen 10 (Lewis 3). Turnovers: Cowley 5, Allen 9. Total fouls: Cowley 20, Allen 18. Fouled out: Johnson. Technicals: none.

Box score from Saturday:

Cowley (79): Avante Nichols 4-5 5-7 12, Jeff Nwankwo 7-13 5-7 21, Arzhonte Dallas 6-8 1-1 15, Damare Smith 3-6 2-2 10, Leslie Owens 0-1 0-0 0, Shamarrie Hugie 2-3 0-0 5, Marcus Zeigler 4-9 0-0 9, David Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Brown 1-2 4-4 6, Lam Kuany 0-1 0-0 0, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-48 17-21 79.

Labette (54): Landon Austin 0-4 0-0 0, Christian Yeates 5-9 0-0 10, Mohammed Maxamud 2-6 4-4 8, JonRay Munzo-Frye 0-3 1-2 1, Angelo Consorte 1-1 4-4 6, Cory Johnny 0-3 0-0 0, Nickhai Howard 4-8 0-0 10, George Yefymenko 0-1 0-0 0, Jayden Bush 2-5 1-2 6, Dakari Ervin 1-1 2-2 4, Eric Dillinger 3-4 1-2 9. Totals: 18-45 13-16 54.

Three-pointers: Cowley 8-20 (Nwankwo 2-6, Smith 2-5, Dallas 2-4, Zeigler 1-2, Hugie 1-1, Nichols 0-1, Kuany 0-1). Labette 5-16 (Dillinger 2-3, Howard 2-5, Bush 1-2, Austin 0-3, Yeates 0-1, Johnny 0-1, Yefymenko 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 31 (Nwankwo 10), Labette 22 (Yeates 4). Assists: Cowley 19 (Dallas 5), Labette 5 (Yeates 2). Turnovers: Cowley 12, Labette 11. Total fouls: Cowley 21, Labette 12. Fouled out: Owens. Technicals: Dillinger.