From RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
In a battle of unbeaten teams in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference, the Cowley College men’s basketball team continued to impress with an 80-70 road win at No. 6-ranked Barton Community College on Wednesday.
The victory improves Cowley’s record to 9-1 overall, and the Tigers now sit atop the Jayhawk Conference standings with a conference mark of 4-0. The Cougars fall to 9-1 and 3-1 in the conference.
Trailing 18-12 midway through the first half, Cowley made its move. The Tigers used a 17-3 run, capped by a basket by freshman Leslie Owens, to lead 29-21 with 3:25 left before halftime.
Owens would score 10 of his 17 points in the first half, and Cowley out-shot the Cougars 48 percent to 28 percent from the floor.
Cowley’s lead would balloon to 16 points (68-52) before a 9-0 run by the Cougars cut the Tigers’ lead to seven (68-61) with just over five minutes remaining. However, Cowley answered with six straight points and went on to the 10-point victory.
“Any road win is a good win,” Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. “Barton is a really good basketball team. Credit to the guys for fighting and competing on the road, in a hostile environment, for 40 minutes.”
Sophomore point guard Arzhonte Dallas scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, and Damare Smith added 12 points and four steals.
“Damare and Arzhonte were huge for us,” Jackson said.
Fellow sophomore Corey Thomas also came up big with eight points, nine rebounds, and two blocked shots.
Myles Thompson led Barton with 11 points and 13 rebounds but made just 3 of 10 shots from the floor.
Cowley will return home to face Garden City Saturday at 3 p.m. The Broncbusters are 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
“We have to change our focus to Garden City,” Jackson said. “They are very well-coached and may have the most talented starting lineup in the league. We will need to have two great days of practice to give ourselves a chance.”
Box score:
Cowley (80): Avante Nichols 2-4 2-4 6, Jeff Nwankwo 1-7 1-2 4, Arzhonte Dallas 7-12 7-8 24, Damare Smith 4-8 2-2 12, Corey Thomas 4-7 0-0 8, Shamarrie Hugie 2-4 0-0 5, Ajai Flagg 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 1-2 0-1 2, Leslie Owens 8-12 0-2 17, Lam Kuany 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 30-59 12-19 80.
Barton (70): Ring Malith 3-10 0-0 8, Mozae Downing-Rivers 2-10 0-2 4, Myles Thompson 3-10 4-6 11, Cooper Jackson 2-7 2-3 7, Lajae Jones 3-8 11-12 18, Keandre Kindell 1-1 0-0 2, Brent Moss 2-7 3-4 7, Christian Bowen-Webb 1-4 2-2 5, Amiri Ndayisaba 3-3 0-0 8, Stefan Spray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-60 22-29 70.
Three-pointers: Cowley 8-24 (Dallas 3-6, Smith 2-6, Nwankwo 1-5, Hugie 1-2, Owens 1-1, Nichols 0-1, Thomas 0-1, Zeigler 0-1, Kuany 0-1), Barton 8-24 (Malith 2-8, Ndayisaba 2-2, Bowen-Webb 1-3, Thompson 1-3, Jones 1-3, Jackson 1-2, Downing-Rivers 0-2, Moss 0-1).
Rebounds: Cowley 36 (Thomas 9), Barton 42 (Thompson 13). Assists: Cowley 13 (Nichols, Smith, Owens 3), Barton 11 (Downing-Rivers 5).
Turnovers: Cowley 13, Barton 14. Total fouls: Cowley 19, Barton 15. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Thompson, Barton bench, Dallas.
Big third quarter leads Barton to 67-55 home win over Tiger women
For the third straight game, the Cowley College women’s basketball team found themselves in a tight contest at the end of the first half. However, as in the previous two games, the Lady Tigers could not make enough plays in the second half to come away with the victory. This time, losing 67-55 on Wednesday at Barton Community College.
Cowley falls to 7-3 overall and 1-3 in the Jayhawk Conference, while the Cougars improve to 7-2 and 3-1 in conference play.
Trailing 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, Cowley got a boost from freshman Zuzanna Komor. Playing in her first game since November 6, Komor scored 13 second-quarter points to help the Lady Tigers pull within 34-31 at the end of the first half.
Cowley’s deficit remained at three (38-35) three minutes into the third quarter before Barton began to pull away. The Cougars doubled up the Lady Tigers, 22-11, in the third quarter to lead 56-42 heading into the final quarter of play.
Barton’s lead would grow to 62-42 as the Cougars went on to the 12-point home win.
“Barton is a tough place to play, and I did not think we handled the environment very well,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
Komor led Cowley with 18 points while going 4-of-7 from three-point range.
“Zuzanna gave us a spark, but we could not maintain it,” Clark said.
Sophomore Anna Przyszlak added a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.
Vera Ojenuwa led Barton with 22 points, while Vivian Onugha finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds as the Cougars out-rebounded Cowley 44-30.
The Lady Tigers will now prepare to host Garden City Saturday at 1 p.m. The Lady Broncbusters are 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
“Garden is really good,” Clark said. “We have to shoot it better and play better on Saturday if we want to have a chance to win.”
Box score:
Cowley (55): Destiny Yates 2-3 1-2 6, Ndack Mbengue 2-2 2-2 6, Anna Przyszlak 6-15 3-3 16, Hattie Pyle 0-10 2-4 2, Jaiden Smith 1-6 0-0 2, Zuzanna Komor 6-12 2-2 18, Georgia Knight 0-2 0-0 0, Aiyanna Big Man 2-3 0-0 5. Totals: 19-53 10-13 55.
Barton (67): Grace John 0-4 2-2 2, Quezia Bertoni 2-5 1-4 7, Vivian Onugha 7-14 2-3 16, Vera Ojenuwa 10-17 2-3 22, Tatum Boettjer 5-10 2-2 17, Emma Toombs 0-1 0-2 0, Bella Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Macie Smith 1-5 0-0 3, McKenna Vogl 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 25-58 9-16 67.
Three-pointers: Cowley 7-24 (Komor 4-7, Przszlak 1-3, Yates 1-2, Big Man 1-2, Pyle 0-4, Smith 0-4, Knight 0-2), Barton 8-19 (Boettjer 5-9, Bertoni 2-4, Smith 1-4, John 0-1, Toombs 0-1).
Rebounds: Cowley 30 (Przyszlak 10), Barton 44 (Onugha 14). Assists: Cowley 14 (Yates, Pyle 3), Barton 18 (Bertoni 6).
Turnovers: Cowley 13, Barton 16. Total fouls: Cowley 16, Barton 13. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Mbengue.
