By RAMA PEROO/Cowley College
Clinging to a 33-31 halftime lead, the Cowley College men’s basketball team erupted for 57 second-half points in a 90-66 win over Colby Community College Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
The victory improves Cowley’s record to 15-12 overall and 9-12 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Colby falls to 5-22 overall and 2-19 in conference play.
“We finally got a run going in the second half, and the floodgates opened up for us,” Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.
On Saturday, Tiger freshman Damare Smith broke out of his shooting slump to drain four first-half three-pointers as Cowley took a 33-31 halftime lead.
Fellow freshman Corey Thomas continued his solid play by scoring nine of his career-high 20 points in the opening half, while freshman Lam Kuany scored seven straight points to put Cowley in front 45-33 with 15 minutes left.
“Corey has got really good energy and is taking advantage of his opportunity,” Jackson said. “Those three freshmen really stepped up for us.”
The Tigers would go on to shoot 58.6 percent in the second half as they cruised to the 24-point win. Mekhi Cameron finished with 18 points, while Smith added 15 on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
Sophomore Xavier Washington also played well, finishing with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and five assists.
Joshua O’Garro led Colby with 20 points in the loss.
Cowley will play at No. 19-ranked Butler (18-7) Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are 13-7 in the conference.
“Butler has had our number, so we will need to have a couple of good days of practice,” Jackson said. “We need to find a way to win on the road because we are still playing for a home playoff game.”
Box score:
Colby (66): Elijah Wood 0-3 0-0 0, Joshua O’Garro 7-16 5-6 20, Mike Bell 7-12 2-2 19, Marco Moreau 1-2 2-4 4, Anthony Sellars 3-5 7-8 13, Julius Morris 1-6 0-1 3, Luke Tolbert 1-1 0-0 3, Pablo Avalos 0-2 0-0 0, Bachir Camara 1-6 2-4 4. Totals: 21-53 18-25 66.
Cowley (90): Mekhi Cameron 5-13 6-7 18, Xavier Washington 3-7 6-6 14, Jeff Nwankwo 0-1 2-2 2, Mooch Austin 2-4 2-6 6, Corey Thomas 8-11 2-2 20, Damare Smith 5-10 0-0 15, Demetrius Rives 1-3 1-2 3, Trevion Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Lam Kuany 3-4 2-2 9, Jackson Greene 1-2 1-1 3. Totals: 28-56 22-28 90.
Lady Tigers Blast Colby 91-70, Move Over .500
Leading by as many as 38 points in its game against Colby Community College Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium, the Cowley College women’s basketball team rolled to a 91-70 victory.
The win, Cowley’s second in a row, improves the Lady Tigers’ record to 14-13 overall and 9-12 in the Jayhawk Conference.
Getting 11 first-half points from Baylee Fincher and Carson Dean, the Lady Tigers built a commanding 46-22 halftime lead.
Cowley’s lead would grow to 77-41 after three-quarters of play. With Cowley clearing its bench in the final quarter, Colby would out-score Cowley 29-14. Colby (1-25), losers of 25 games in a row, is now 0-21 in the conference.
Fincher, who is No. 2 on Cowley’s all-time scoring list, finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, seven steals, and six assists as she filled the stat sheet.
Dean added 15 points as Cowley had 12 players score in the victory.
“We will take the win and move on to Wednesday,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
With only six players on the roster, Colby’s Aaliyah Chambers led all scorers with 30 points.
Cowley will next play at No. 20-ranked Butler Community College Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Butler (21-5) is in third place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 16-5.
“It is always a handful to play up there; we will have to be ready to play,” Clark said.
Box score:
Colby (70): Aryanna Perez 4-10 2-2 12, Peyton Pinkney 7-19 2-4 16, Aaliyah Chambers 12-27 5-5 30, Ileah Bea 1-3 0-0 2, Jayla Sample 5-11 0-3 10, Kamely Brito Brames 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 29-74 9-14 71.
Cowley (91): Gracie Gilpin 2-11 0-0 4, Baylee Fincher 7-23 4-4 20, Carson Dean 6-14 0-0 15, Shamahra Henderson 6-10 1-2 13, Anna Przyszlak 4-6 2-2 10, Natalia Silva 0-0 0-0 0, Stasia Duque 1-3 1-2 4, Onnahili Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Lorette Chene 1-5 0-0 2, Callie Scott 0-1 2-2 2, Brooke Perez 0-0 0-0 0, Jana Radovanovic 1-2 0-0 2, Lexi Rose 2-4 0-0 5, Kaelyn Mills 0-1 0-0 0, Lucia Nion 1-1 0-0 2, N’dack Mbengue 6-10 0-0 12.
