November 14, 2006                    

Cowley men’s basketball blasts Friends JV 92-44

After playing a rather lackadaisical first half against the Friends University JV Monday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium/Dan Kahler Court, the Cowley College men’s basketball team turned up its intensity in the second half and cruised to a 92-44 win.

Cowley led just 25-14 with 5:20 remaining in the first half, and 37-19 after the first 20 minutes of play. After a basket by the Falcons Greg Hudspeth cut Cowley’s lead to 45-26 with 17:20 left to play, the Tigers went on an incredible 25-0 run over the game’s next seven minutes.

The Tigers closed the game on another 11-0 run as they improved to 4-1 on the season.

“We came out flat in the first half, but came out in the second half and played a lot better,” Cowley head coach Brian Jackson said. “If I could get these guys to compete like we did in the second half for a full 40 minutes we would have a chance to be an outstanding basketball team.”

Appearing in just his second game of the season, freshman guard Damen Harris (pictured) finished with a game-high 20 points. Fellow freshman Nikola Grbicic also had a breakout game as he finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

“It’s good for those young men to build some confidence because they have been working extremely hard,” Jackson said. “I was extremely proud of them tonight.”

Sanijay Watts added 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while Santwon Latunde chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Hudspeth led Friends JV with 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The Falcons were outshot 56.2 percent to 30.9 percent for the game.

The Tigers will now prepare to play at Northern Oklahoma College (Tonkawa) Thursday at 8 p.m. Cowley beat NOC 70-58 at home on Nov. 7. However, the Tigers have had trouble winning at Tonkawa.

“Playing at NOC is always a tough environment, but it’s necessary for our guys to beat teams away from our place if we want to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves,” Jackson said.

The Tigers will play six of their next seven games on the road before taking off for Christmas break.

“We have got a tough stretch ahead of us, the next two weeks will show a lot about where our basketball team is at,” Jackson said.

Box score:

Friends JV (44): Jerryll Fontenot, 2-10 0-0 6, Dennis Shirley 1-5 0-1 2, Matt Lawson 1-9 1-2 4, Timmy Ellis 2-7 2-5 6, Greg Hudspeth 8-17 0-0 20, Sly Adimekewe 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Todd Call 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 17-55 3-8 44.

Cowley (92): Sanijay Watts 7-8 1-2 15, Matt Muncy 1-5 0-0 2, Ludovic Dovonou 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Harvey 4-5 0-1 8, Eric Hammond 2-4 2-4 8, Larry Cox 3-7 2-2 8, Damen Harris 7-11 5-7 20, James Loe 0-5 0-0 0, Nikola Grbicic 6-9 5-7 17, Tyler Blackburn 0-0 0-0 0, Santwon Latunde 6-9 2-4 14. Totals: 36-64 17-27 92.

Three-pointers: Friends JV 7-28 (Fontenot 2-9, Lawson 1-8, Hudspeth 4-8, Call 0-3), Cowley 3-10 (Watts 0-1, Muncy 0-1, Harvey 0-1, Hammond 2-3, Harris 1-2, Loe 0-2). Rebounds: Friends JV 25 (Shirley 9), Cowley 48 (Cox 11). Assists: Friends JV 11 (Fontenot, Shirley, Lawson 3), Cowley 19 (Watts, Loe 4). Turnovers: Friends JV 27, Cowley 21. Total fouls: Friends JV 21, Cowley 14. Fouled out: Shirley, Ellis. Technicals: none.