Tigers open conference play with 101-89 win over Garden City

The Cowley College men's basketball team got off to a good start in its quest to repeat as Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division champions as they knocked off Garden City 101-89 Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

After making only 12-of-70 three-point attempts in a pair of losses to No. 13-ranked Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, the Tigers hit nine shots from behind the arc in the opening half of Wednesday's game as they built a 54-42 halftime lead.

"We were a lot better offensively and defensively in the first half," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said. "We played with the effort and passion needed in order to play our style of basketball."

Cowley's lead would grow to 64-50 early in the second half before Garden City used a 13-0 run to pull within 64-63 following an alley-oop dunk by Mohamed Diarra with 14:02 remaining.

However, Cowley got back-to-back dunks by Cowley's Shemarri Allen and Dalen Ridgnal prior to a three-pointer by Cevin Clark to cap a 13-3 run which saw the Tigers' lead extend back to double digits.

"We didn't panic when they got close and that's a good sign," DeSalme said.

Cowley would lead by as many as 18 points in the 12-point win.

Clark went 4-of-4 from three-point range and finished with 16 points as Cowley had five players score in double figures. Fellow sophomore Dalen Ridgnal posted his third straight double-double to open the season, finishing with 22 points and 14 boards.

"Dalen was a lot more active and played from rim to rim," DeSalme said.

Freshmen Josiah Harris (eight points, eight rebounds) and Raishaun Brown (eight points, four rebounds) also played well and gave Cowley a lift off the bench.

"We have got to continue to build our depth because our bench is one of our biggest weapons," DeSalme said.

Jasman Sangha led Garden City with 22 points and 13 rebounds in what was the first game of the season for the Broncbusters.

Cowley will attempt to improve to 2-0 in the conference when they play at Seward County Saturday at 4 p.m. The Saints are 0-1 following a 76-72 road loss at Allen Community College on Wednesday.

"The Greenhouse is always a tough place to play, fans or not," DeSalme said. "Our sophomores have got to show up and we just need to keep getting better as a team."

Box score:

Garden City (89): Denver Jones 5-9 16-19 26, Mason Osborne 2-3 0-0 5, Jaduhkiss Soto 1-9 2-3 5, KJ Marshall 3-11 6-7 13, Khadim Samb 3-7 1-2 7, Jasman Sangha 9-20 4-9 22, JJ Watson 0-6 2-2 2, Mohamed Diarra 3-7 1-2 9, Carlos Acosta 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-72 32-44 89.

Cowley (101): Mike'l Henderson 4-13 1-2 12, Shemarri Allen 6-10 0-2 14, Cevin Clark 5-6 2-3 16, Dalen Ridgnal 7-16 6-6 22, Jacquez Yow 3-7 1-2 7, Clarence King 0-1 2-3 2, Moun'tae Edmundson 2-9 6-6 10, Raishaun Brown 3-12 1-3 8, Tarese Morse 1-4 0-0 2, Josiah Harris 3-7 2-3 8, Biar Garang 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 34-87 21-30 101.

Three-pointers: Garden City 5-26 (Diarra 2-4, Soto 1-8, Marshall 1-5, Osborne 1-2, Watson 0-4, Jones 0-3), Cowley 12-41 (Clark 4-4, Henderson 3-9, Ridgnal 2-7, Allen 2-4, Brown 1-7, Edmundson 0-5, Yow 0-2, Harris 0-2, Morse 0-1). Rebounds: Garden City 51 (Sangha 13), Cowley 60 (Ridgnal 14). Assists: Garden City 11 (Marshall 7), Cowley 13 (Henderson 5). Turnovers: Garden City 23, Cowley 21. Total fouls: Garden City 25, Cowley 30. Fouled out: Samb. Technicals: Watson.