Tigers blast Coffeyville 80-58, set up a showdown with Barton

With a home game against No. 3-ranked Barton Community College looming on Saturday, the No. 10-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team did a good job of not looking past its road opponent on Wednesday as the Tigers defeated rival Coffeyville Community College 80-58 to remain in a first-place tie in the conference with the Cougars.

Cowley (19-2) and Barton (20-1) are each 14-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Cougars have won 11 games in a row since suffering an 80-70 home loss to the Tigers on November 29.

Cowley, winners of four games in a row and 17 of its last 18 led for the final 31 minutes of Wednesday's game.

Trailing 13-10, Cowley used a 10-0 run to go in front of the Red Ravens. Powered by sophomores Jeff Nwankwo and Arzhonte Dallas, the Tigers would take a 42-29 lead into the half.

Coffeyville would pull within 46-38 following a jumper by Cris Carroll with 17:07 remaining, but the Tigers would answer by scoring 20 of the next 24 points to take a commanding 66-42 lead with eight minutes left.

The Red Ravens would not threaten the rest of the way as Cowley swept the season series between the two teams, winning the two games by a 41-point margin.

"It has been very difficult to win at Coffeyville, so I am proud of the guys for competing and finding a way to win," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Cowley shot 52.6 percent from the floor while holding Coffeyville to 32.8 percent shooting. Dallas led five Tigers in double figures with 21 points, while Nwankwo added 16 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Leslie Owens added 12 points, and Damare Smith and Marcus Zeigler chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Corey Thomas just missed a fourth straight double-double as the sophomore finished with nine points and nine rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.

"I liked the balance of our scoring," Jackson said. "We had several guys step up."

Jahni Summers led the Red Ravens with 21 points on 5-of-16 shooting. Coffeyville, losers of three games in a row, is now 9-12 overall and 5-10 in the Jayhawk Conference.

The Tigers will now prepare for Saturday's showdown with Barton, which will take place at 3 p.m. inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

"Barton is well coached and is playing very well," Jackson said. "They have a balanced team, and you can't key in on just one guy. We will need to have two great days of preparation to give ourselves a chance on Saturday."

Box score:

Cowley (80): Jeff Nwankwo 7-11 2-3 16, Arzhonte Dallas 7-12 5-6 21, Damare Smith 4-10 0-0 10, Leslie Owens 5-8 2-5 12, Corey Thomas 4-5 0-0 9, Shamarrie Hugie 0-3 2-2 2, Ajai Flagg 0-1 0-0 0, Avante Nichols 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 3-5 3-3 10, Faustin Phanor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-57 14-19 80.

Coffeyville (58): Jayven Cofer 1-2 0-0 2, Brian Griffith 2-14 0-1 5, Jahni Summers 5-16 7-9 21, CJ Smith 1-4 4-6 6, Cris Carroll 4-12 2-2 12, Desmond Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Kemboi 0-1 0-0 0, Charles Caporaso 3-3 0-0 6, Alvin Cole 3-6 0-1 6. Totals: 19-58 13-18 58.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-18 (Dallas 2-6, Smith 2-6, Zeigler 1-2, Thomas 1-1, Nwankwo 0-2, Hugie 0-1), Coffeyville 7-27 (Summers 4-10, Carroll 2-6, Griffith 1-7, Smith 0-2, Kemboi 0-1, Cole 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 39 (Nwankwo, Thomas 9), Coffeyville 31 (Carroll 9). Assists: Cowley 9 (Smith 5), Coffeyville 8 (Griffith 5). Turnovers: Cowley 14, Coffeyville 13. Total fouls: Cowley 18, Coffeyville 14. Fouled out: Smith. Technicals: Summers 2.