Tigers sweep season series with defending national champs

Led by five players in double figures in scoring, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team thumped No. 22-ranked Barton Community College 95-67 in an important conference game played Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

"We needed this game to bounce back from the loss at Dodge on Wednesday," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

The victory helped the Tigers (19-3) sweep the home and away matchups with the Cougars (17-5) and open a half-game lead over Coffeyville for first place in the Jayhawk Conference as Cowley is now 14-2. Barton County falls to fourth place in the conference with a record of 11-5.

On Saturday, Cowley led 20-19 midway through the first half before a three-point play by sophomore Avante Nichols capped a 10-0 run to increase the Tigers' lead to 30-19.

"I thought when Avante Nichols checked in the game, our energy level picked up, and we made our first half run," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Cowley would maintain an 11-point lead (40-29) going into halftime by shooting 56.7 percent in the opening half.

The Tigers would score the first five points of the second half and went in front 58-34 following a technical foul on Barton head coach Jeremy Coombs with 15:41 left to play.

Cowley continued to pour it on and led by as many as 33 points in the 28-point home win. The Tigers improved to 12-1 inside W.S. Scott Auditorium and have won nine straight home games.

Cowley shot 53 percent from the floor while holding Barton to 33.3 percent shooting.

"I was proud of our effort because Barton can really score it," Jackson said.

The Tigers were led by Marcus Whitlock and Dallas Whitney's 16 points apiece. Marcus Zeigler and Shamarrie Hugie added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Nichols chipped in with 11 points.

"We continued to have good balance," Jackson said. "I thought Marcus and Dallas were key and impacted the win."

Aris Rodriguez led Barton with 14 points, while Brent Moss added 10 points and 14 boards.

Cowley will attempt to remain on top of the conference when they play at Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Fort Hays Tech is playing its best basketball of the season, having won three games in a row and four of five to improve to 8-12 overall and 6-10 in conference play.

"They are playing at a high level, so we will have our hands full," Jackson said. "It is an important game. We need to go there with the right mindset."

Box score:

Barton (67): Fontaine Williams 3-14 0-0 7, Keandre Kindell 5-12 0-2 11, Brent Moss 4-11 2-2 10, Aris Rodriguez 3-7 6-6 14, Eltramon Smith Jr. 3-8 1-3 7, Lyna Brooks Jr. 2-4 1-1 5, Maddux Spray 1-1 2-2 5, Carter Coombs 0-0 0-0 0, James Parlow Jr. 2-7 1-2 5, Lucas NGombo 0-0 0-0 0, Sebastian Muchitsch 0-4 1-2 1, Majok Chuol 1-1 0-0 2, Pavel Ivanov 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 24-72 14-20 67.

Cowley (95): Shamarrie Hugie 5-8 4-4 15, Marcus Zeigler 5-9 2-3 15, Dallas Whitney 7-9 1-2 16, Kyden Thompson 3-3 2-4 8. Marcus Whitlock Jr. 5-9 5-8 16, Emarquis Jones 3-9 0-0 6, Avante Nichols 4-7 3-4 11, Winston Allen 0-0 0-0 0, CJ Majors 3-10 0-0 8, Teagan Charles 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Fortune 0-1 0-0 0. Xavier Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 35-66 17-25 95.

Three-pointers: Barton 5-20 (Rodriguez 2-4, Kindell 1-6, Williams 1-4, Spray 1-1, Smith 0-2, Brooks 0-1, Parlow 0-1, Muchitsch 0-1), Cowley 8-21 (Zeigler 3-5, Majors 2-2, Whitlock 1-5, Whitney 1-3, Hugie 1-2, Jones 0-2, Nichols 0-2). Rebounds: Barton 42 (Moss 14), Cowley 36 (Hugie, Zeigler 7). Assists: Barton 4 (Kindell 2), Cowley 18 (three players with 4). Turnovers: Barton 19, Cowley 13. Total fouls: Barton 19, Cowley 18. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Barton bench.