Tigers’ win streak ends with 86-74 loss

Something had to give. With both Cowley College and Independence entering Wednesday night’s game in Independence riding double digit win streaks, somebody had to lose. Unfortunately, the No. 11-ranked Tigers had their 11-game win streak snapped with an 86-74 set back.

Cowley started slow as they fell behind 12-5 in the game’s first five minutes of play. The Pirates’ lead would grow to 29-19 before the Tigers pulled within five points (43-38) at the end of the first half. Chris Rhymes and Reggie Cook helped keep Cowley close as they combined to score 31 points in the opening half.

Trailing 59-48, Cowley rattled off seven straight points to cut the Pirates’ lead to 59-55 with 12 minutes remaining. However, Independence answered with a 9-2 run to push its lead back to 11 (68-57) and Cowley never really threatened again.

The loss was the first for the Tigers since November 17 as they are now 17-2 overall and 6-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Playing its third road game in five days may have had an affect on the Tigers.

“Independence is a good ball club and they were much quicker than us,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said.

Independence was also playing its third game in five days although all three games were played on the Pirates’ home court. The victory was the Pirates 15th in a row and improves Independence’s record to 16-3 overall and 7-0 in the Jayhawk East.

Michael Craion, who entered the game averaging just 9.4 points per contest, led Independence with 19 points. Antonio Hanson added 19 points, while James Bush chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore forward Chris Rhymes continued his torrid stretch of games as he led Cowley with a season-high 35 points in the loss. Cook added 13, 12 of which came in the first half.

The Tigers will be back in action Saturday when they play at Fort Scott at 4 p.m. The Greyhounds are 6-13 overall and 1-6 in the conference. Cowley will need to contain Fort Scott’s Arsenio Williams, who is averaging 20.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

“I hear Fort Scott is always a tough place to play,” Eck said. “We have got to be better defensively.”

Box score:
Cowley (74): Preston Brown 4-9 0-0 8, Reggie Cook 5-7 1-2 13, Montrell McDonald 1-7 1-5 3, Chris Rhymes 14-20 7-8 35, Eric McKinney 3-5 2-2 8, Mike Atwater 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Butler 0-1 1-2 1, Jack Crowder 0-4 4-4 4, Kyle Hammerschmidt 0-2 2-2 2, Zach Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-56 18-25 74.

Independence (86): Antonio Hanson 6-19 4-4 19, James Bush 5-11 3-5 13, TJ Stukes 4-4 0-0 8, Donald Rowe 2-4 0-0 5, Daniel Rowe 5-11 5-6 16, Mekan Moss 1-3 0-0 2, Chris Heard 2-3 0-1 4, Michael Craion 6-9 5-6 19. Totals: 31-64 17-22 86.

Three-pointers: Cowley 2-7 (Brown 0-1, Cook 2-3, Crowder 0-1, Hammerschmidt 0-1, Rhymes 0-1), Indy 7-17 (Moss 0-1, Heard 0-1, Hanson 3-7, Donald Rowe 1-2, Daniel Rowe 1-4, Craion 2-2). Rebounds: Cowley 33 (Crowder, McKinney 5), Indy 39 (Bush 8). Assists: Cowley 9 (Rhymes 3), Indy 11 (Heard, Hanson 4). Turnovers: Cowley 24, Indy 21. Total fouls: Cowley 17, Indy 18. Fouled out: Brown. Technicals: none.