Tigers drop home opener against NOC-Tonkawa 101-91

Facing No. 13-ranked Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa for the second time in four days, the No. 24-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team was more competitive than they were in their season-opening loss on Wednesday. However, the Tigers were unable to earn the split of the two games as they suffered a 101-91 loss Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

On Saturday, Cowley made just 1-of-21 three-point attempts in the opening half. Despite the poor shooting, the Tigers were fortunate to only trail by seven (44-37) going into halftime.

"I would have the guys take all 21 of those shots again, we are just not making them right now," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said.

Tiger sophomore Moun'tae Edmundson would score seven straight points early in the second half and Cowley used an 11-1 run to grab a 59-57 lead following a pair of free throws by Clarence King with 13:21 remaining.

However, the Mavericks' Avante Lederer scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in a six-minute span to help NOC regain a double digit lead en route to the 10-point road win.

Cowley would finish 5-of-38 from three-point range and through the first two games of the season, the Tigers have made only 12-of-70 three-point attempts.

"We have got to gain the confidence to start knocking down some shots," DeSalme said.

Sophomore forward Dalen Ridgnal posted his second straight double-double in the loss, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow sophomore Jacquez Yow came off the bench to lead Cowley in scoring with 14 points.

Former Cowley College assistant coach Donnie Jackson looks to have another solid team at NOC as they start the year 2-0 and had five players score in double figures.

Cowley will look to get off to a strong start to conference play when they host Garden City Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

"We could have played a lot of different teams to start the year and been 2-0, so we hope to use the experience of playing two tough games to our benefit," DeSalme said. "We are excited about going into conference play and need to protect our homecourt."

Box score:

NOC (101): Tyrel Morgan 5-9 5-6 15, JD Ray 4-14 9-10 17, Mark Berry 2-4 2-2 6, Nate Goodlow 4-4 5-6 14, Syrus Grisby 2-8 3-7 7, Avante Lederer 8-19 3-3 23, Camryn Dennis 3-7 4-6 11, Kevin Sesberry 0-3 2-2 2, Malik Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan McLean 0-3 2-2 2, Justin Wilson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 30-75 35-44 101.

Cowley (91): Clarence King 2-5 5-5 9. Shemarri Allen 4-10 2-2 12, Cevin Clark 3-9 4-4 10, Dalen Ridgnal 4-13 4-4 12, Tarese Morse 0-3 3-4 3, Kobe Campbell 1-5 0-0 2, Mike'l Henderson 3-12 2-2 9, Moun'tae Edmundson 4-11 2-4 12, Raishaun Brown 1-4 1-1 3, Jacquez Yow 4-6 6-11 14, Josiah Harris 1-1 1-4 3, Biar Garang 1-2 0-0 2, Matthew Reeves 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-81 30-41 91. Totals: 28-81 30-41 91.

Three-pointers: NOC 6-17 (Lederer 4-7, Dennis 1-2, Goodlow 1-1, Ray 0-6, McLean 0-1), Cowley 5-38 (Edmundson 2-8, Allen 2-5, Henderson 1-8, Ridgnal 0-6, Clark 0-5, Campbell 0-2, King 0-1, Brown 0-1, Morse 0-1, Garang 0-1). Rebounds: NOC 64 (Morgan 11), Cowley 43 (Ridgnal 12). Assists: NOC 7 (Ray 3), Cowley 13 (Edmundson 4). Turnovers: NOC 26, Cowley 17. Total fouls: NOC 28, Cowley 29. Fouled out: Henderson, Yow. Technicals: Goodlow.