February 4, 2008

Rhymes’ put back helps Cowley avoid costly loss at Kansas City

Having beaten Kansas City by 36 points earlier this season at W.S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 14-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team figured to have no problem with the Blue Devils on Saturday. However, Kansas City gave the Tigers all they could handle as Cowley needed a basket by Chris Rhymes with 4.8 seconds left to escape Kansas City with a 57-56 win.

The game featured three ties and six lead changes in the final five minutes of play. Trailing 49-47, Cowley got a three-point play by sophomore Montrell McDonald to go back on top 50-49 with 3:39 remaining. A Jack Crowder put back increased Cowley’s lead to 52-49 before the Blue Devils’ Dusty Burdolski buried a 25-foot three-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 with two minutes left.

Following a missed opportunity by the Tigers, Kansas City’s Stephen Williams’ basket put the Blue Devils back on top 54-52 with just over a minute left. McDonald again answered for the Tigers as his three-pointer put Cowley back ahead 55-54 with 45 seconds remaining.

With the shot clock winding down on the Blue Devils, Burdolski hit a jumper to put Kansas City ahead 56-55 with 11 seconds left.

After a timeout by the Tigers, Cowley in bounded the ball to McDonald, who raced down the court and missed a scoop shot, but Rhymes was there for the put back.

With one last chance for the win, Kansas City got the ball to Jack Shortell, who went the length of the court before missing a contested lay-up at the buzzer.

The victory improves Cowley’s record to 20-2 overall and 9-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Kansas City drops to 10-12 overall and 2-8 in the conference.

McDonald led Cowley with 15 points, while Rhymes added 14. Marcus Butler came off the bench to hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with seven points and two assists in 14 minutes of playing time.

Kansas City was led by Travis Fairley’s 16 points, while Burdolski and Josh King added 10 points a piece.

The Tigers will return home to host Allen County Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Red Devils are 13-9 overall and 6-4 in the Jayhawk East. Allen County is led by Perry Petty, who is the second leading scorer in the conference at 21.2 points per game.

Box score:
Cowley (57): Preston Brown 3-4 0-2 6, Montrell McDonald 6-11 2-2 15, Chris Rhymes 6-13 0-0 14, Reggie Cook 0-5 2-2 2, Kyle Hammerschmidt 1-2 2-2 5, Mike Atwater 1-1 0-0 2, Marcus Butler 2-3 1-2 7, Jack Crowder 1-4 0-0 2, Zach Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Eric McKinney 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 22-48 7-10 57.

Kansas City (56): Marcus Frye 3-9 1-4 7, Travis Fairley 7-11 2-4 16, Jack Shortell 1-6 2-4 4, Derrick Howard 1-1 4-6 6, Dusty Burdolski 4-9 0-0 10, Josh King 4-10 0-0 10, John Hale 1-1 1-2 3, Stephen Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-47 10-20 56.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-17 (Brown 0-1, McDonald 1-3, Rhymes 2-4, Cook 0-4, Hammerschmidt 1-2, Butler 2-2, Crowder 0-1), KC 4-13 (Frye 0-2, Burdolski 2-5, King 2-6). Rebounds: Cowley 28 (McKinney 6), Kansas City 32 (Frye 8). Assists: Cowley 12 (Atwater 4), KC 14 (Burdolski 4). Turnovers: Cowley 15, KC 12. Total fouls: Cowley 18, KC 14. Fouled out: Brown. Technicals: none.