Nwankwo’s career night lifts Tigers to rout of No. 24-ranked Butler

Cowley College sophomore Jeff Nwankwo was in the "zone" during the Tiger basketball team's game at No. 24-ranked Butler. Nwankwo scored 23 first-half points to help Cowley to a 40-20 advantage and finished with a career-high 37 points in the Tigers 81-65 road win Wednesday in El Dorado.

Nwankwo buried his fifth three-pointer of the game just before the halftime buzzer sounded and was 9-of-12 from the floor in the opening half.

It took just 10 seconds into the second half for Nwankwo to convert a three-point play. He followed that up with his sixth three-pointer and went over the 30-point mark as Cowley led 50-25.

The Tigers led 54-28 when Nwankwo picked up his fourth foul with 12:20 left to play. With Nwankwo on the bench, the Grizzlies attempted to come back and used a 20-3 run to pull within 57-48 with 8:36 remaining.

With its lead down to nine, Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson put Nwankwo back on the floor, and the sophomore forward scored back-to-back baskets to push the Tigers' lead back to double digits.

A four-point play by sophomore Damare Smith increased Cowley's lead to 74-56, and the Tigers cruised to the 15-point win and sweep of the season series against Butler.

"A road win is always a good win," Jackson said. "It took some time for us to settle into the game, but once we got a few shots to fall, we got going on both sides of the ball in the first half."

Nwankwo finished 15-of-23 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point range. This marked the sixth straight game Nwankwo has scored more than 20 points.

"Jeff had a special night," Jackson said. "We need him to keep playing at a high level."
The No. 11-ranked Tigers finish the regular season with a record of 26-4 overall and 21-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley finished second in the conference behind Barton (23-1) and will be the two-seed in the region tournament.

Butler, losers of three games in a row, were without leading scorer Jamichael Stillwell (12.4 points per game), who was suspended from the contest. The Grizzlies (22-8) finished in fourth place in the conference with a record of 17-7.

Kaleb Washington led Butler with 19 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

Sophomore Arzhante Dallas added 17 points for the Tigers, while sophomore post player Corey Thomas finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots.

The Tigers earned a bye in the first round and will host the winner of Northwest Kansas Tech (15-15) and Dodge City (9-21) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Mavericks have won four games in a row and earned the seventh seed, while Dodge City has lost eight games in a row and is the 10^th seed.

"We really respect both teams, as they are both well coached and both have offensive firepower," Jackson said. "Everyone is 0-0, and the regular season doesn't mean anything anymore. We need to stack some great days of practice to give ourselves a chance on Tuesday in the quarterfinals."

The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal game will advance to play in Friday night's semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Region title game will be played Saturday at 5 p.m.

Box score:

Cowley (81): Jeff Nwankwo 15-23 6-8 37, Arzhonte Dallas 7-16 0-0 17, Marcus Zeigler 2-11 0-0 4, Damare Smith 3-8 1-1 9, Corey Thomas 4-6 2-3 10, Shamarrie Hugie 1-5 2-4 4, Avante Nichols 0-2 0-2 0, Leslie Owens 0-1 0-0 0, Faustin Phanor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 32-72 6-11 81.

Butler (65): Anthony Williams 2-7 2-2 7, Jason Drake 4-8 0-0 9, Jaquez Thornton 4-8 1-3 9, Kaleb Washington 7-14 5-7 19, Charles McClennahan Jr. 2-7 1-3 5, Amare Haynie 0-4 0-0 0, Aidan Wing 1-1 0-0 2, Khalil Arnold 5-8 0-0 12, Dre Kemp 0-2 0-0 0, Dorien Johnson 0-2 2-2 2. Totals: 25-61 11-17 65.

Three-pointers: Cowley 11-25 (Nwankwo 6-8, Dallas 3-7, Smith 2-5, Hugie 0-2, Nichols 0-1, Zeigler 0-1, Thomas 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 38 (Thomas 9), Butler 43 (Washington 9). Assists: Cowley 15 (four players with 3), Butler 10 (Thornton 7). Turnovers: Cowley 12, Butler 19. Total fouls: Cowley 15, Butler 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.