Tigers basketball team opens conference play with 80-69 home win

The Cowley College men's basketball team got 35 points from its bench players and won its fourth game in a row with an 80-69 home victory over Northwest Kansas Tech Saturday afternoon inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley is now 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while the Mavericks fall to 3-3 and 0-1 in conference play.

On Saturday, the Tigers had eight players score in the opening half as they built a 41-27 halftime lead.

Cowley would lead by as many as 15 points (55-40) midway through the second half before the Mavericks rallied to pull within 69-64 after a pair of free throws by Keyishon Miller with 2:25 left to play.

Tiger sophomore Jeff Nwankwo, who had a tough day shooting the ball, came up clutch when his team needed him as he scored inside and then hit a three-pointer with just under a minute remaining to give Cowley a 76-67 lead they would not relinquish.

"It was good to start conference play with a win," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We had a few runs that were able to give us some momentum. Fortunately, we made enough plays when they made a late second-half push to win the game."

Freshman Leslie Owens came off the bench to score a season-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Fellow freshman Marcus Zeigler added 11 points off the bench, while Avante Nichols (10 points, nine rebounds) and Corey Thomas (10 points, eight boards) just missed double-doubles.

Arthur Celestin led Northwest Tech with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Cowley will play at Seward County on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The Saints are 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

"Seward has a very long and physical team," Jackson said. "The Greenhouse is always a tough place to play. We will have to have a 40-minute focus if we want to give ourselves a chance in a hostile environment."

Box score:

NW Tech (69): Emarquis Jones 2-5 3-4 7, Taiden Conner 2-8 4-4 9, Keither Florence 1-1 0-0 2, Amar Lane 0-0 1-2 1, Torrance Johnson 0-2 0-1 0, Keyishon Miller 4-11 6-8 16, Idris Williams 1-2 0-0 3, Charles Fofanah 4-16 0-1 9, Arthur Celestin 7-17 6-9 20, Dylan Holt 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-63 20-29 69.

Cowley (80): Avante Nichols 5-10 0-0 10, Jeff Nwankwo 2-10 2-2 8, Arzhonte Dallas 3-10 2-2 8, Damare Smith 1-3 5-6 8, Corey Thomas 3-5 3-4 10, Shamarrie Hugie 2-3 0-0 5, Marcus Zeigler 2-5 6-8 11, Devin Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Leslie Owens 7-10 5-7 19. Totals: 25-56 25-31 80.

Three-pointers: NW Tech 5-11 (Miller 2-4, Conner 1-2, Fofanah 1-2, Williams 1-1, Johnson 0-2), Cowley 5-17 (Nwankwo 1-5, Smith 1-2, Thomas 1-2, Hugie 1-2, Zeigler 1-1, Dallas 0-4, Owens 0-1). Rebounds: NW Tech 38 (Celestin 12), Cowley 36 (Nichols 9). Assists: NW Tech 8 (Conner 3), Cowley 8 (Smith 4). Turnovers: NW Tech 14, Cowley 16. Total fouls: NW Tech 24, Cowley 21. Fouled out: Williams, Thomas. Technicals: none.

Photo provided by James Dill