Tigers avenge earlier defeat, top Cloud County 69-63

With the regular season winding down, the No. 11-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team avenged an earlier loss at Cloud County by defeating the T-Birds 69-63 Wednesday night inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley's fourth victory in a row improves the Tigers' record to 25-4 overall and 20-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley must win its final regular season game at Butler on March 6 and have Barton (21-1 Jayhawk Conference) lose its last two games to claim a share of the conference title.

Cloud (19-9) had its three-game winning streak come to an end and are now 14-8 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Cowley held Cloud to 21-4 percent shooting (6-of-28) in the opening half. The Tigers didn't shoot much better but went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line to take a 30-23 halftime lead.

Cowley's lead would grow to as many as 19 points (54-35) midway through the second half. However, the T-Birds began to chip away at the deficit and would close within 67-63 following a three-pointer by Ian Lavalaye with 6.1 seconds left.

Forced to foul, Cloud sent Tiger freshman Marcus Zeigler to the free-throw line, where he calmly sank both attempts to help Cowley escape with the six-point win.

"That was an absolute rock fight," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "It wasn't the prettiest, but we found a way. We made a nice run at the end of the first half, giving us some early separation. We carried that over into the second half and hung on enough to pull out the win."

Cowley sophomore Jeff Nwankwo finished with a game-high 21 points, marking the fifth straight game he has scored 20 or more points. Nwankwo is now averaging 17.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Fellow sophomores Corey Thomas (13 points, 14 rebounds), Arzhonte Dallas (11 points), and Damare Smith (nine points) also stepped up in the victory.

"I am proud of our sophomores," Jackson said. "They have bought into the culture of the team the entire year."

Thomas is now averaging a double-double (11.9 points, 10.0 rebounds), while Dallas averages 15 points per game.

Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. led Cloud with 19 points in the defeat.

Cowley will close the regular season by playing at No. 19-ranked Butler on Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are 22-6 overall and 17-5 in the conference.

"We have a bye week and then a huge game on the road at Butler," Jackson said. "They are very well coached and very sound defensively. They have been playing well, so we will need to rest up and have great practices to give ourselves any chance."

Cowley has earned a bye in the first round of the Region VI Tournament and will host a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the second round on Tuesday, March 12, at 7 p.m.

Box score:

Cloud (63): Emmanuel Munyuon 3-8 2-2 10, Isaiah Sy 3-7 2-2 10, Cheikh Sow 4-10 3-4 11, Kyle Mcelroy 0-2 0-2 0, Ja'Ron Briggs Jr. 6-15 5-8 19, Ian Lavalaye 2-4 0-2 6, Roy Aviv 2-4 0-0 5, Abdoulaye Fall 0-9 2-2 2, Cav Carlgren 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-59 14-22 63.

Cowley (69): Avante Nichols 0-1 0-0 0, Jeff Nwankwo 5-11 9-9 21, Arzhonte Dallas 4-10 3-5 11, Damare Smith 3-11 1-1 9, Corey Thomas 2-2 8-11 13, Shamarrie Hugie 2-5 1-2 6, Ajai Flagg 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 1-2 7-9 9, Leslie Owens 0-1 0-0 0, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-43 29-37 69.

Three-pointers: Cloud 9-26 (Briggs Jr. 2-6, Sy 2-6, Manyuon 2-5, Lavalaye 2-2, Aviv 1-1, Fall 0-3, Mcelroy 0-3), Cowley 6-19 (Smith 2-7, Nwankwo 2-5, Hugie 1-2, Thomas 1-1, Dallas 0-4). Rebounds: Cloud 27 (Briggs Jr. 12), Cowley 37 (Thomas 14). Assists: Cloud 12 (Manyuon, Briggs Jr. 3), Cowley 5 (Thomas 2). Turnovers: Cloud 10, Cowley 20. Total fouls: Cloud 24, Cowley 18. Fouled out: Manyuon, Mcelroy. Technicals: Sy.