Tigers put on a show in front of the home crowd

On Wednesday night, the No. 13-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team put on an aerial show in a 94-58 win over Fort Hays Tech inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The game was filled with numerous highlight-reel plays from the Tigers as they grabbed control early and never looked back in the 36-point victory.

"I am proud of the guys; now we need to finish the semester strong," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Cowley, winners of seven games in a row, is 10-1 overall and alone atop the Jayhawk Conference standings with a record of 5-0.

Leading 11-8, Cowley used a 19-0 run to lead 30-8 following a basket by Marcus Zeigler with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Tigers shot 57 percent in the first half while building a 44-27 halftime lead.

Leading 66-46 midway through the second half, Cowley sophomore Avante Nichols threw down three straight alley-oop dunks during a 17-0 run that put the game away.

"It got fun there in the second half with the Avante Nichols' dunk show," Jackson said.

Nichols finished with 17 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting, while Marcus Whitlock Jr. went 6-of-13 from three-point range and led the Tigers with a game-high 28 points.

Winston Allen and Emarquis Jones came off the bench to score 12 and 10 points, respectively, and the Tigers got 41 points from its reserves.

"Our bench guys did a good job of bringing energy and producing," Jackson said.

Chase Harris led Fort Hays Tech with 14 points but shot just 5-of-15 from the floor. Fort Hays Tech (1-7) has dropped seven games in a row and is now 0-5 in the conference.

Cowley will hit the road to take on Colby Community College on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Trojans are 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

"Colby is good and is a tough place to play, so our next focus is on them," Jackson said.

Box score:

Fort Hays Tech (58): Idris Williams 3-8 4-5 11, Kalik Sharpe 2-9 2-4 6, Marquintez Dixon 1-2 1-4 3, John Troolin 2-10 5-5 9, Francisco Monreal 0-1 1-2 1, Chase Harris 5-15 3-8 14, Rayquan Cochrane 1-2 0-0 2, Terrance Johnson Jr. 1-3 1-1 3, Nolan Russell 1-2 0-0 3, Da'King Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Kade Schimke 2-3 0-0 4, Elisee Guede 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 19-58 17-29 58.

Cowley (94): Shamarrie Hugie 3-8 1-2 7, Marcus Zeigler 4-9 0-0 8, Kyden Thompson 2-4 0-0 6, Marcus Whitlock Jr. 10-18 2-2 28, Austin Fortune 1-2 2-2 4, Emarquis Jones 4-6 2-3 10, Avante Nichols 7-9 3-4 17, Winston Allen 6-8 0-1 12, CJ Majors 0-0 0-0 0, Teagan Charles 0-1 0-0 0, Xavier Alexander 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 38-67 10-14 94.

Three-pointers: Fort Hays Tech 3-18 (Harris 1-5, Williams 1-1, Russell 1-1, Troolin 0-5, Sharpe 0-3, Johnson 0-2, Cochrane 0-1), Cowley 8-20 (Whitlock 6-13, Thompson 2-2, Hugie 0-2, Zeigler 0-2, Alexander 0-1). Rebounds: Fort Hays Tech 29 (Williams 8), Cowley 41 (Nichols 7). Assists: Fort Hays Tech 5 (Williams 2), Cowley 24 (Thompson 6). Turnovers: Fort Hays Tech 14, Cowley 11. Total fouls: Fort Hays Tech 13, Cowley 22. Fouled out: Zeigler. Technicals: none.