Tigers continue to roll with a 78-69 win over Garden City

Winning its eighth game in a row, the Cowley College men's basketball team remained unbeaten in the Jayhawk Conference with a 78-69 home win over Garden City on Saturday.

Cowley (10-1) remains atop the Jayhawk Conference standings with a record of 5-0, while Garden City falls to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

On Saturday, Cowley led 26-12 following a basket by freshman Shamarrie Hugie midway through the first half. The Tigers would make 8-of-14 three-point attempts while building a 41-29 halftime lead.

Cowley sophomore Jeff Nwankwo, who finished with a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds, converted a four-point play early in the second half as the Tigers' lead grew to 50-32. However, Garden City stormed back and pulled within 62-61 following a basket by Thomas Tut with 5:50 remaining.

Leading by one, Nwankwo buried his fifth three-pointer of the game and capped the nine-point victory with an emphatic alley-oop slam dunk in the game's final minute.

Cowley finished 11-of-25 from three-point range. Sophomore Arzhante Dallas went 3-of-4 from long range and added 17 points in the victory.

"That was a gut check game," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "Garden has really good guard play and is extremely physical inside. The game got very physical down the stretch, but we found a way to get it done. Jeff and Arzhonte made some timely plays for us down the stretch."

Braxton Jones led four Broncbusters in double figures with 22 points, but made just 6-of-16 shots from the floor.

Cowley will close out the first semester with a pair of challenging road games, beginning with a game at defending conference champion Dodge City (5-6 overall, 3-2 Jayhawk Conference) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before playing at No. 21-ranked Hutchinson (9-1 overall, 4-0 Jayhawk Conference) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

"The road does not get any easier," Jackson said. "Dodge City has a lot of offensive firepower and a plethora of guards. They are also well-coached. We need to have two great days of practice if we want to give ourselves a chance."

Box score:

Garden City (69): Braxton Jones 6-16 5-6 22, Isaiah Dixon 1-2 0-2 2, Jace Steinmetz 0-4 0-0 0, Charles Chukwu 4-5 0-2 8, Brody Robinson 4-11 3-5 13, Jordan Frazier 4-10 0-0 11, Thomas Tut 4-9 5-6 13, Cooper Autry 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 23-60 13-21 69.

Cowley (78): Avante Nichols 3-5 0-0 7, Jeff Nwankwo 10-18 1-1 26, Arzhonte Dallas 7-10 0-0 17, Damare Smith 1-5 3-5 6, Corey Thomas 2-6 0-0 5, Shamarrie Hugie 2-4 2-2 6, Ajai Flagg 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 1-5 2-2 4, Owens 1-6 1-1 3, Lam Kuany 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 28-61 11-13 78.

Three-pointers: Garden 10-34 (Jones 5-11, Frazier 3-8, Robinson 2-7, Steinmetz 0-4, Autry 0-3, Tut 0-1), Cowley 11-25 (Nwankwo 5-9, Dallas 3-4, Smith 1-5, Thomas 1-3, Nichols 1-1, Hugie 0-2, Zeigler 0-1). Rebounds: Garden 35 (Tut 10), Cowley 32 (Nwankwo 10). Assists: Garden 14 (Robinson 5), Cowley 16 (Dallas, Smith 4). Turnovers: Garden 6, Cowley 9. Total fouls: Garden 17, Cowley 19. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.