Tigers power past Allegany College of Maryland 87-64 in the first game at the national tourney

With a large contingent of Tiger fans in the stands to cheer on the Cowley College men's basketball team, the ninth-seeded Cowley College Tigers defeated 24^th-seed Allegany College of Maryland 87-64 in the First Round of the NJCAA Division I Men's National Basketball Championship played Sunday afternoon inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

"The crowd support means everything to us," Cowley sophomore Jeff Nwankwo said.

The Trojans finish the season with a record of 26-8, while the Tigers improve to 28-5 and advance to face eighth-seeded Northwest Florida State (28-5) on Monday at 5 p.m. at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

On Sunday, things started slowly for the Tigers as they trailed 7-4 after the first five minutes of play. However, freshman Shamarrie Hugie came off the bench to provide the team with a spark by scoring a pair of baskets in a 9-4 run that saw Cowley go in front 13-11 with 11:15 remaining.

With the game tied at 19-19, Hugie soared in for two points to break the tie and put Cowley in front 21-19 with just under eight minutes left in the first half. An alley-oop dunk by Avonte Nichols gave the crowd something to cheer about, and the dunk was followed by a three-pointer by Jeff Nwankwo and a contested layup by Arzhonte Dallas, forcing the Trojans to call timeout with Cowley leading 28-20 with 4:54 remaining.

The Tigers' lead would grow to as many as 15 points (35-20) as the run stretched to  16-1 following a steal and layin by Dallas, and Cowley went into halftime with a 39-24 lead.

"I thought Shamarrie was huge in the first half in providing us with an offensive spark," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Cowley shot 50 percent in the opening half and was led by Dallas' nine points. Hugie added eight points, as did sophomore Damare Smith, who drained a pair of threes over the first 20 minutes.

The Trojans' leading scorer, Tyson Oghene, was held to three points in the first half, and Allegany shot just 33.3 percent as a team.

'Jeff (Nwankwo) set the tone early to make sure Tyson had tough catches and did not get any looks," Jackson said.

Smith nailed his third three-pointer of the game to open the second half, and a basket by Corey Thomas increased Cowley's lead to 44-24, and the route was on as the Tigers would quickly lead by 30 (62-32).

Nwankwo had a strong second half and led Cowley with a double-double consisting of 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Dallas and Hugie added 19 and 16 points apiece. Dallas added five steals, and Hugie grabbed six boards.

"I thank the coaches for the opportunity, and as long as we believe in ourselves, we will come out on top," Hugie said.

Sophomore Corey Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Damare Smith finished with 11 points and seven boards.

Cowley forced Allegany into 23 turnovers and out-scored the Trojans 29-9 on points off turnovers.

"I like how we sped them up and got some easy baskets off turnovers," Jackson said.

Jason Thomas led the Trojans with 16 points in the defeat.

Cowley will face a Northwest Florida State team led in scoring by Tajuan Simpkins' 15.2 points per game. The Raiders are a strong defensive team, allowing opponents an average of only 62 points per contest.

"It's going to be tough to get easy buckets, so we will need to take advantage of every opportunity we get," Jackson said. "Northwest Florida is a household name at the national tournament, but we are here to play and will give them our best effort."

The box score can be found at https://kjccc.org/sports/mbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240324_7jks.xml?view=boxscore