Tigers’ dream season comes to an end with an 85-70 loss at the national tournament

In a matchup of teams with identical 28-5 records and separated by only one spot in the seeding for the national tournament, the ninth-seeded Cowley College Tigers ran into an eighth-seeded Northwest Florida State team that had advanced to each of the past two national title games, capturing the championship in 2022. The Tigers trailed by as many as 17 points before rallying to tie the game at halftime. However, Cowley ran out of gas in the second half as its season came to an end with an 85-70 loss in the second round of the NJCAA Division I Men's National Basketball Championship played Monday evening inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Picked eighth in the Jayhawk Conference at the beginning of the season, Cowley shocked everyone and finished second in the conference and won a game at the national tournament as they finished the season with a record of 28-6.

"I thought the big run we made at the end of the first half took a lot of energy, and we just ran out of gas," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "One thing we did is we fought until the final second ticked off the clock. Credit to Northwest Florida; they have some big, physical guys that can really defend."

Northwest Florida State advances to the Elite Eight, where they will face top-seed Barton Community College (33-1) on Wednesday at noon in the Hutchinson Sports Arena. Barton defeated Walters State 83-68 in its first game of the tournament. The Cougars have won 24 games in a row since suffering its lone defeat at the hands of the Tigers.

The Raiders (29-5) entered Monday's contest, allowing the second-fewest points per game in the NJCAA Division I at 62 points per game, and held the Tigers to just 33 percent shooting from the floor.

With his three-pointer on the game's opening possession, Tiger sophomore Jeff Nwankwo moved into the top 10 on Cowley's all-time single-season scoring list, moving past Mario Martin, who scored 617 points during the 1985-86 season.

Cowley would score the game's first five points, but the Raiders answered with a 10-0 run and extended its lead to 15-7 following a three-point play by Tajuan Simpkins with 14:10 left in the opening half.

Northwest Florida would open its lead to 21-9 following a technical called on Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson after Nwankwo was called for his second offensive foul with 11:22 remaining in the first half.

A three-point play by Tavion Banks increased the Raiders' lead to 28-11,

Back-to-back three-pointers by Nwankwo would pull the Tigers within 36-28 with four minutes left in the half and brought the Tiger fans to their feet. Corey Thomas followed with a basket inside, and after a three-point play by Arzhonte Dallas, the Tigers were within one possession at 36-33.

A layup by Nwankwo just before the halftime buzzer saw the Tigers come all the way back to tie the game at 39-39 as they closed the half on a 17-3 run. Thomas and Nwankwo combined for 23 of Cowley's 39 first-half points.

The Raiders shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half but turned the ball over a dozen times.

However, Northwest Florida scored the first four points of the second half and used a 13-2 run to lead 52-41 following a basket by Shider. A three-pointer by Elliott increased the Raiders' lead to 57-43 with 13:22 remaining.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Simpkins ballooned the Raiders' lead to 21 (65-44), and Cowley could not mount another comeback in the 15-point defeat.

Nwankwo would finish with 15 points to move past Tiger Hall of Famer Kermit McMurry into ninth place on the single-season scoring list, just behind another Cowley great in Tyrus McGee. 

Thomas led Cowley with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Dallas added 14 points and six boards.

Elliott led four Raiders in double figures with 19 points as Northwest Florida shot 56 percent.

The Hutchinson Sports Arena was rocking with a large group of Tiger fans for the second time in as many days.

"Tiger Nation was super supportive even when we got down, and that says a lot about our fans," Jackson said.

Cowley will say goodbye to sophomores Jeff Nwankwo, Corey Thomas, Damare Smith, Arzhonte Dallas, Faustin Phanor, and Ajai Flagg, who helped the Tigers make it back to the national tournament for just the fourth time in the past 67 years.

"Those sophomores really turned the tide for the team and took a team that was picked eighth in the conference to the Sweet Sixteen of the national tournament," Jackson said. "Even though we didn't get hardware out of it, we were a contender and wish we had a little more gas in the tank."

The box score can be found at: https://kjccc.org/sports/mbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240325_f4uk.xml?view=boxscore