Tigers dominate Coffeyville 81-62, win sixth straight game

The Cowley College men's basketball team never trailed and led by as many as 34 points (78-44) in an 81-62 victory over rival Coffeyville Community College Saturday afternoon inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley had seven players score in the first eight minutes of Saturday's game as they built leads of 11-1, 31-11, and 50-22 at the end of the first half.

Freshman point guard Arzhonte Dallas scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the opening half, and Cowley outshot Coffeyville 54 percent to 29 percent while building the 28-point advantage.

"I thought we came ready to play. We played with a lot of intensity and urgency in the first half," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

The Tigers' lead would balloon to 34 points (78-44) following a dunk by freshman Shamarrie Hugie, and Cowley would cruise to the 19-point win.

Cowley's sixth victory in a row improves the Tigers' record to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Tiger sophomore Jeff Nwankwo had several dunks in the game, including one that ended up on SportsCenter's top 10 plays, and finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four steals.

Hugie added 13 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes of action, while three other Tigers finished with eight points apiece.

CJ Smith and Jahni Summers led Coffeyville with 13 points apiece. The Red Ravens are now 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Cowley made a season-high 12 three-pointers in the victory.

"We still have a few things we need to clean up, but we will address those in practice," Jackson said.

Cowley will face another tough test when they play at unbeaten Barton County Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The No. 8-ranked Cougars (9-0) and Tigers are tied with Garden City atop the conference with a record of 3-0.

"Barton is currently in a class of their own," Jackson said. "They are deep and experienced. They have offensive firepower, and they can guard. We will really need to be locked in to give ourselves a chance to win."

LaJae Jones leads four Barton players averaging double figures in scoring with an average of 18 points per game. Nwankwo and Dallas lead Cowley with an average of 16 points per contest.

Box score:

Coffeyville (62): Brian Griffith 3-10 0-0 6, CJ Smith 5-11 1-1 13, Cris Carroll 2-8 4-5 8, Charles Caporaso 1-4 2-4 4, Izek Jackson 2-3 4-6 8, Jayven Cofer 2-3 2-2 8, Gio Walton 0-0 0-0 0, Jahni Summers 5-10 3-3 13, Jeremiah Kemboi 0-0 0-0 0, Alvin Cole 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 21-50 16-21 62.

Cowley (81): Avante Nichols 3-5 2-2 8, Jeff Nwankwo 6-13 2-2 17, Arzhonte Dallas 7-14 0-1 18, Damare Smith 3-4 0-0 8, Corey Thomas 3-8 1-2 8, Shamarrie Hugie 6-15 0-0 13, Ajai Flagg 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 2-8 0-1 5, Leslie Owens 1-1 2-5 4, David Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Lan Kuany 0-0 0-0 0, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 31-68 7-13 81.

Three-pointers: Coffeyville 4-18 (Smith 2-4, Cofer 2-3, Griffith 0-4, Carroll 0-4, Summers 0-3), Cowley 12-32 (Dallas 4-8, Nwankwo 3-7, Smith 2-3, Thomas 1-2, Zeigler 1-5, Hugie 1-7). Rebounds: Coffeyville 40 (Jackson 15), Cowley 29 (Hugie 9). Assists: Coffeyville 7 (Griffith 4), Cowley 17 (Dallas 6). Turnovers: Coffeyville 14, Cowley 8. Total fouls: Coffeyville 15, Cowley 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.