Oporum’s late basket lifts Butler to a 72-69 win over Cowley

Playing its final regular season contest, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team used a furious second-half rally to tie its game at Butler on Wednesday before losing 72-69 on Emeka Oporum's three-point play with 3.2 seconds remaining. The loss snapped the Tigers' eight-game win streak.

Cowley (26-4) finishes the regular season as conference champs, three games in front of second place Coffeyville with a conference record of 21-3. Butler (20-10) finished in a tie for fourth place with Hutchinson with a conference mark of 15-10.

Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson and Butler head coach Eric Nitsche were both assistant coaches under Tommy DeSalme, the all-time winningest coach in the history of the Tiger men's basketball program. So, needless to say, both coaches know each other's tendencies.

The first half was back and forth before Cowley was able to lead 22-15. However, Butler closed the half on a 24-7 run to take a 39-29 halftime lead.

"We got a lead midway through the first half, and then we got real stagnant offensively, and Butler went on a run," Jackson said. "We did not end the first half very well."

Butler's lead would grow to 49-31 only five minutes into the second half. Cowley methodically chipped away at the 18-point deficit and eventually tied the game at 60-60.

The Grizzlies would go back in front 69-62 with only 2:18 left to play before the Tigers used a 7-0 run, capped by a Marcus Zeigler three-pointer to tie the game with 26 seconds remaining.

Oporum, who finished with a game-high 18 points and 19 rebounds, scored inside and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left. Oporum hit the free throw to put Butler up 72-69.

With one final chance to tie, Cowley's Dallas Whitney threw the inbounds pass to the other side of the court, where Marcus Whitlock caught the ball and fired up a potential game-tying three-pointer that clanked off the rim as time expired.

"We made a couple of big shots to tie the game twice; we just couldn't get over the hump," Jackson said. "Credit to Butler for making the plays they needed to in timely moments. Even for all the adversity we faced, the guys executed what we called to try to tie the game with 3.2 seconds left."

Whitlock led Cowley with 17 points, while Zeigler and Whitney finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The top-seeded Tigers received a bye in the First Round of the Region VI Tournament and will host the 8 vs. 9 matchup winner between Fort Hays Tech and Dodge City on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Tuesday's winner will advance to the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament which will be held March 14-15 at Fort Hays State University.

"Now everyone is 0-0. It's win-or-go-home time," Jackson said. "We need to move on from last night and focus on protecting home court on Tuesday."

Box score:

Cowley (69): Shamarrie Hugie 2-8 2-5 6, Emarquis Jones 2-5 2-2 8, Marcus Zeigler 5-14 0-0 12, Dallas Whitney 3-9 3-3 10, Marcus Whitlock Jr. 6-13 1-3 17, Avante Nichols 3-4 1-2 7, Winston Allen 0-1 0-0 0, CJ Majors 2-4 3-4 7, Kyden Thompson 0-2 1-2 1, Austin Fortune 0-0 1-2 1, Xavier Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-60 14-23 69.

Butler (72): Russell Branch 5-8 7-8 18, Bubba Leavell 4-8 0-0 11, Kaeson Fisher-Brown 1-5 2-4 5, AJ Pierre-Jerome 0-3 4-6 4, Emeka Oporun 8-14 2-4 18, Josiah Kirkwood 1-6 3-4 5, Devin Kerr 2-7 1-2 5, Rashad McCormick 2-6 1-1 5, Seven Bahati 1-2 0-0 2, Devonte Reed 0-5 0-0 0. Totals: 24-64 20-29 72.

Three-pointers: Cowley 9-21 (Whitlock 4-8, Zeigler 2-5, Jones 2-2, Whitney 1-3, Hugie 0-3), Butler 4-15 (Leavell 3-4, Fisher-Brown 1-3, Branch 0-3, Kirkwood 0-2, Kerr 0-1, McCormick 0-1, Bahati 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 37 (Nichols 8), Butler 48 (Oporum 19). Assists: Cowley 14 (Zeigler, Nichols 3), Butler 11 (Fisher-Brown 3). Turnovers: Cowley 10, Butler 10. Total fouls: Cowley 25, Butler 18. Fouled out: Hugie. Technicals: Zeigler, Kerr.