February 12, 2007                    

Watts goes for 32 in 87-60 win over Neosho County

In the always changing conference standings of the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, the Cowley College men’s basketball team moved within a game of second place with an 87-60 home win over Neosho County on Saturday.

The Tigers, who are now 13-11 overall and 7-5 in the Jayhawk East, are in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference, but are just one game behind three teams that are tied for second with a record of 8-4.

It took Cowley a while to get going against the last place Panthers as they trailed 19-17 through the first 10 minutes of play. However, the Tigers used a 14-2 run that was capped by a dunk by freshman Sanijay Watts to lead 31-21.

Watts would finish with 18 points and eight rebounds in the first half as Cowley built a 39-24 halftime lead.

Cowley sophomore Matt Muncy opened the second half with a three-pointer and the route was on. The Tigers’ lead grew to 32 points (75-43) on Watts’ 30th point of the night with 6:20 remaining.

Watts finished the game with a season-high 32 points on 16-of-22 shooting from the floor, while adding10 rebounds. He is the leading scorer in Jayhawk East conference games with an average of 21.7 points per game.

“He wants to win,” Cowley head coach Brian Jackson said. “I am pleased with his offensive effort, but I was even more pleased with his defensive effort. He has a chance to be a special player.”

Freshman post player Nikola Grbicic also played well as he scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Sophomore Santwon Latunde played his first game since rejoining the team and added 12 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes of action. While, Muncy and freshman Ludovic Dovonou chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Muncy also added eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals as he played an all around great game.

Cowley shot 54.1 percent from the floor, while holding the Panthers to just 42.6 percent shooting.

The Tigers, winners of three of their last four games, have not put together a winning streak longer than two games since November. Jackson hopes to change that with six conference games remaining.

Cowley will play host to Fort Scott Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds are one of the three-teams tied for second in the conference at 8-4.

“We need to get some momentum going here late in the year and gain some identity on how we are going to play every night,” Jackson said.

LeRoy Call, Jill Stinson, Don Miller, Raymond Judd, and Travis Hafner were inducted into Cowley’s Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime of the game.

“It was a very good weekend with the Hall of Fame inductions, I’m glad the ladies team and ourselves were able to get a win,” Jackson said.

Box score:
Neosho (60): Harry Burrton 3-9 0-0 8, Zach Rhine 4-7 0-0 12, Manny Richardson 2-7 2-5 6, Jamais Quary 3-9 0-0 7, Eugene Blue 6-9 4-5 16, Richard Gunn 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Bonci 3-7 0-0 7, Demetrius Martin 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 23-54 6-10 60.

Cowley (87): Sanijay Watts 16-22 0-0 32, Matt Muncy 5-10 0-0 12, Joe Harvey 2-7 0-0 4, Eric Hammond 1-7 0-0 2, James Loe 0-1 0-0 0, Ludovic Dovonou 5-7 1-1 11, Nikola Grbicic 6-10 1-2 13, Tyler Blackburn 0-1 0-0 0, Santwon Latunde 5-9 2-4 12. Totals: 40-74 4-7 87.

Three-pointers: Neosho 8-21 (Burrton 2-6, Rhine 4-7, Quary 1-3, Gunn 0-1, Bonci 1-4), Cowley 3-12 (Muncy 2-4, Harvey 0-2, Hammond 1-5, Blackburn 0-1). Rebounds: Neosho 28 (Richardson 7), Cowley 42 (Watts 10). Assists: Neosho 10 (Richardson 4), Cowley 27 (Muncy 7, Hammond 7). Turnovers: Neosho 19, Cowley 12. Total fouls: Neosho 6, Cowley 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.