March 1, 2007

Tigers rally for 96-89 road win

Rallying from a 44-36 halftime deficit, the Cowley College men’s basketball team defeated Johnson County 96-89 Wednesday night in Overland Park.

James Loe was one of five Tigers in double figures with 24 points, as Cowley avenged an earlier season home loss to Johnson County.

"We've been in a long drought on the road," Cowley head coach Brian Jackson said. "That was one of the points of emphasis this week. To start off with a road win at Johnson County was huge."

Loe made four-of-five three-pointers on the night and also went eight-of-10 at the free-throw line.

Eric Hammond added 17 points, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Sanijay Watts contributed 14, Joe Harvey had 12 and Matt Muncy had 10.

After falling behind by eight at the end of the first half, the Tigers scored the first nine points of the second half thanks to great work on the defensive end to take a 45-44 lead.

Cowley built its lead to as many as 19 points before Johnson County cut it to seven with two minutes remaining. However, the Tigers made their free throws down the stretch, allowing them to hang on for the seven-point win.

Cowley went 16-of-19 at the foul line in the second half, and finished 17-of-21. The Tigers also went 9-of-12 from three-point range.

The 96 points scored by the Tigers was a season-high, eclipsing the old mark of 94 set on Feb. 21 against Highland.

Aaron Linn led Johnson County (12-17) with a game-high 25 points while Anthony Spencer added 22.

Cowley will look to take the momentum of the win into their final regular season game at 8 p.m. Saturday at Allen County.

Box score:
Cowley (96): Loe 6-10 8-10 24; Hammond 6-9 2-3 17; Watts 7-15 0-0 14; Harvey 3-8 6-6 12; Muncy 4-6 0-0 10; Dovonou 4-4 1-2 9; Latunde 3-5 0-0 6; Grbicic 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 35-63. 17-21 96.

Johnson County (89): Linn 10-19 2-3 25; Spencer 10-17 2-4 22; Jackson 6-8 0-0 12; Nemechek 4-6 0-0 12; Smith 2-5 2-2 6; May 2-4 1-2 5; Bradley 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-66 7-11 89.

Halftime - Johnson County 44, Cowley 36. 3 pt. shooting - Cowley: 9-12 (Loe 4, Hammond 3, Muncy 2); Johnson County: 8-18 (Nemechek 4, Linn 3, Revels). Rebounds - Cowley: 35 (Watts 10); Johnson County: 27 (Linn 5). Assists - Cowley: 23 (Harvey 7); Johnson County: 24 (Revels 8). Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.