Tigers suffer first conference defeat, 78-62, at Cloud

The No. 8-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team had a rare off night Saturday at Cloud County, which turned into a 78-62 defeat. The loss snapped the Tigers' 13-game winning streak.

Cowley is now 15-2 overall and 10-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Tigers remain a half-game in front of Barton and Hutchinson for first place in the conference. Cloud is now 12-4 overall and 7-3 in conference play.

On Saturday, the T-Birds scored the game's first seven points and led by as many as 12 points (26-14) before settling for a 37-30 halftime lead.

Cowley chipped away at the deficit and trailed just 46-45 following a pair of free throws by freshman Leslie Owens with 13:23 left in the second half

The Tigers trailed 59-55 with just under six minutes remaining but were out-scored 19-7 the rest of the way.

"We got out-played, out-coached, and out-toughed," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We have been playing with fire for a couple of weeks, and we need to get back to defending and doing the tough things. I take full responsibility. Credit to Cloud."

The T-Birds shot over 50 percent from the field by going 23-of-45 from the floor, including a season-high 27 made free throws (27-of-39). Cowley was limited to a 38.2 percent (21-of-55) shooting effort and five-of-20 mark from three.

Cowley was led by a game-high 21 points from Azhonte Dallas. Jeff Nwankwo added 17 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Shamarrie Hugie came off the bench to score 10 points before fouling out in only 13 minutes of action.

Cloud had five players score at least 10 points, with JaRon Briggs Jr. scoring a team-high 17 points, with 11 points coming from the free-throw line.

Cowley will attempt to start a new winning streak when they host No. 20-ranked Butler Community College on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Grizzlies are 13-3 overall and 8-2 in the Jayhawk Conference.

"We have a bye week to try to get our mojo back," Jackson said. "We had a nice run during the streak. We have to get back to the roots of what allowed us to have success during that run. Butler is the real deal, and we will need to be ready."