January 28, 2008

Tigers finish road stretch with 82-70 win

Playing its fourth road game in seven days, the No. 11-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team capped the road trip with a 82-70 win at Fort Scott Community College on Saturday.

Cowley led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but Fort Scott rallied to cut the Tigers’ lead to six points on several occasions.

Sophomore forward Montrell McDonald came up huge down the stretch as he scored 11 straight points for the Tigers late in the game and helped Cowley answer each time it looked like the Greyhounds would make a run. McDonald finished with a team-high 23 points and six assists.

“Montrell was able to get the ball to the basket and make some plays for us,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said.

Preston Brown broke out of his offensive funk to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Chris Rhymes added 15 points.

Arsenio Williams, the conference’s second leading scorer, helped Fort Scott stay close by finishing with 23 points and six rebounds before fouling out with just under five minutes remaining.

The win improves Cowley’s record to 18-2 overall and 7-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Fort Scott is now 6-14 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

Cowley will play its first home game in two weeks when they host Neosho County Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Panthers, who were 0-18 in conference play a year ago, are the surprise of the conference as they are tied for third place in the Jayhawk East with a mark of 5-3. They are also tied for second in the region with Cowley with a record of 5-1.

The Panthers are led by 6-foot-5 freshman Mark Gomilla, who is averaging 14.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

“They have got a new coach and a new system, it will be a tough game,” Eck said. “We have got to have a higher intensity level. Our intensity is just not the same as before the road stretch started.”

Box score:
Cowley (82): Preston Brown  6-9 2-4 14, Reggie Cook 3-5 0-0 8, Montrell McDonald 7-14 9-12 23, Chris Rhymes 5-8 4-4 15, Eric McKinney 3-7 1-8 7, Mike Atwater 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Butler 1-1 0-0 2, Jack Crowder 4-9 0-0 9, Kyle Hammerschmidt 1-1 0-0 2, Zach Miller 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 31-58 16-28 82.

Fort Scott (70): Brandon Doughtery 2-8 4-7 8, Kyle Grant 2-6 1-2 5, Kolby Hopkins 4-5 0-0 8, Arsenio Williams 11-14 1-1 23, William Bland 5-8 0-0 10, Brandon Kinnie 3-8 3-7 9, Jeremy Sutton 2-2 0-0 4, Josh Sutton 1-1 1-4 3. Totals: 30-62 10-21 70.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-12 (Brown 0-1, Cook 2-2, McDonald 0-1, Crowder 1-1, Rhymes 1-2), Fort Scott 0-1 (Grant 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 47 (Brown 7). Assists: Cowley 21 (McDonald 6), Fort Scott 15 (Kinnie 8). Turnovers: Cowley 8, Fort Scott 17. Fouls: Cowley 18, Fort Scott 26. Fouled out: Hammerschmidt, Grant, Williams, Bland. Technicals: Kinnie.