November 29, 2006                    

Tiger men lose to hot-shooting Brown Mackie squad

Each time the Cowley College men’s basketball team tried to claw its way back in its game against Brown Mackie played Tuesday at W.S. Scott Auditorium, the Lions always had an answer. Brown Mackie shot 60.7 percent in the second half as they held off the Tigers 82-73.

Cowley’s final lead of the game would come on a dunk by freshman Sanijay Watts with 7:44 remaining in the first half. Facing just a three-point deficit (37-34) at the end of the first half, the Tigers were in position to end their three-game slide.

However, Brown Mackie opened the second half with a 16-4 run to increase its lead to 53-38 with 15:42 left to play. Cowley continued to battle and used a 13-2 run of its own, which was capped by Nikola Grbicic’s three-point play that cut the Lions’ lead to 55-51 with 12:00 remaining.

After the teams traded baskets, Brown Mackie pulled away with a 10-0 run to lead 70-55 with 5:35 left to play. The Tigers could get no closer than within nine points of the Lions the rest of the way.

The loss was Cowley’s fourth straight and drops the Tigers’ record to 4-5 on the season.
Earnest Noel led four Lions in double figures with his game-high 20 points. Brown Mackie finished the game shooting 52.6 percent from the floor.

“We are not committing to guarding people,” Cowley head coach Brian Jackson said. “This is the third game in a row where we have given up over 80 points.”

Larry Cox led Cowley with a season-high 16 points, while Sanijay Watts and Tommy Williams (pictured) added 10 points a piece in the defeat. The Tigers played without leading scorer and rebounder Santwon Latunde (14.7 points, 9.5 rebounds) for the third straight game, while freshman Damen Harris (9.0 points) missed his fourth game of the season due to injury.

Cowley will now prepare to take part in the Jayhawk Shootout this weekend in Coffeyville. The Tigers will play Barton County Saturday at 9 p.m. and will then face Northeastern Oklahoma Sunday at 5 p.m.

“We have got to get it turned around here pretty quick because none of our games get any easier,” Jackson said.

Box score:

Brown Mackie (82): Earnest Noel 8-17 1-2 20, Anthony Mack 1-4 2-2 5, Adrian Dixon 5-7 2-2 13, Darnell Kimball 5-6 4-8 14, Dei Dei 7-12 2-3 16, Chris Milum 0-2 2-2 2, Tommy Adams 0-1 0-0 0, Leon Myers 2-5 3-6 7, Kendal Carter 0-0 1-2 1, Calvin Howard 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 30-57 17-27 82.

Cowley (73): Matt Muncy 2-5 2-2 6, Ludovic Dovonou 2-5 0-0 4, Joe Harvey 2-4 4-4 9, Eric Hammond 4-9 0-0 9, James Loe 2-6 1-2 6, Sanijay Watts 5-12 0-0 10, Larry Cox 7-13 2-2 16, Tommy Williams 3-6 4-6 10, Nikola Grbicic 1-2 1-1 3. Totals: 28-62 14-17 73.

Three-pointers: Brown Mackie 5-15 (Noel 3-8, Mack 1-3, Dixon 1-1, Dei 0-1, Myers 0-1, Adams 0-1), Cowley 3-16 (Muncy 0-2, Harvey 1-2, Hammond 1-4, Loe 1-2, Watts 0-1, Cox 0-3, Williams 0-2). Rebounds: Brown Mackie 39 (Dei 11), Cowley 29 (Dovonou, Watts 6). Assists: Brown Mackie 10 (Mac 5), Cowley 17 (Hammond, Cox 40. Turnovers: Brown Mackie 23, Cowley 17. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Grbicic.