November 6, 2006                    

Cowley men battle hard in 71-59 loss to No. 16-ranked Seminole State

Leading after the first 30 minutes of play, the Cowley College men’s basketball team looked poised to upset the No. 16-ranked Seminole State Trojans Saturday in Seminole, Okla. However, Cowley’s upset bid would be thwarted as the Trojans rallied for a 71-59 win.

The Tigers trailed by just one point at the end of the first half (35-34) and led by as many as four points (42-38) after a lay up by sophomore James Loe with 16:07 left to play.

Cowley still led with 10 minutes remaining, before Seminole began to pull away. A three-pointer by Robert Jarvis gave the Trojans a 60-52 lead with five minutes left. Cowley got within five points (62-57) after a basket by freshman Sanijay Watts with 3:40 remaining, but Seminole State iced the game by going 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the game’s final minute of play.

“We were in control of the game for about 30 minutes, but the guys have got to learn how to play every possession and not take possessions off,” Cowley head coach Brian Jackson said. “I think we can use this as a positive way to teach our kids. I was pleased with our effort and execution, we just came up a little short.”

Watts led Cowley with 20 points and seven rebounds in the defeat. Sophomore Matt Muncy added 11 points, while Santwon Latunde finished with six points and nine rebounds. The loss drops the Tigers’ record to 1-1 on the season.

Jarvis led Seminole State with 30 points as he hit six three-pointers and went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Cowley will be back in action Tuesday when they host rival Northern Oklahoma College at 7 p.m.

All Tiger basketball games can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM, or by logging on to kacy.fm.

Box score:

Cowley (59): Sanijay Watts 8-13 3-6 20, Matt Muncy 4-7 3-4 11, Ludovic Dovonou 1-4 0-0 2, Joe Harvey 1-5 1-2 4, Eric Hammond 2-4 0-0 5, Larry Cox 2-3 0-0 4, Tommy Williams 1-3 0-0 3, James Loe 1-6 0-0 2, Nikola Grbicic 1-2 0-0 2, Santwon Latunde 2-5 2-2 6. Totals: 23-52 9-14 59.

Seminole (71): David Thomas 4-8 1-2 9, Robert Jarvis 7-21 10-10 30, Adam Terneus 1-4 1-2 3, Garrett Steinmetz 3-6 0-1 8, Josh Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Jon Jonsson 1-4 3-4 5, Bret Jackson 1-2 0-0 2, Jerome Phillips 3-4 0-0 6, Tyron Goldsmith 0-1 2-2 2, JD Davis 1-1 2-4 4. Totals: 22-52 19-25 71.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-13 (Watts 1-2, Muncy 0-1, Harvey 1-3, Hammond 1-1, Cox 0-1, Williams 1-2, Loe 0-3), Seminole 8-20 (Jarvis 6-13, Thomas 0-1, Terneus 0-1, Steinmetz 2-4, Phillips 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 40 (Latunde 9), Seminole 25 (Phillips 6). Assists: Cowley 2 (Loe, Latunde 1), Seminole 14 (Terneus 7). Turnovers: Cowley 29, Seminole 15. Technicals: none.