February 11, 2008

Cowley sweeps Coffeyville for first time in 13 seasons

Winning its fifth straight game, the No. 13-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team swept the season series with Coffeyville Community College for the first time since the 1994-95 season by defeating the Red Ravens 70-59 Saturday in Coffeyville.

The win keeps Cowley just one game behind Independence in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division as the Tigers are now 22-2 overall and 11-1 in the conference.

“It always feels good when you can go on the road and get a win,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said. “Give credit to my guys, they went over there, stayed focused and got it done.”

Leading 55-50 with 6:30 remaining, Cowley got a three-pointer from Chris Rhymes and a basket by Montrell McDonald on its next possession to lead 60-50 with 5:40 left. Cowley would hold on for the 11-point win.

McDonald led Cowley with 21 points and nine rebounds. Reggie Cook and Chris Rhymes added 18 and 13 points, respectively. Cook made all four of his three-point attempts as Cowley made 6-of-11 shots from behind the arc. Coffeyville made just 7 of its 26 three-point attempts.

“When Reggie plays defense harder he seems to shoot the ball better,” Eck said.
The Tigers, which led 29-24 at the end of the first half, out-shot Coffeyville 49 percent to 34.8 percent in the win.

J.J. Seymore led Coffeyville with 22 points. The Red Ravens are now 17-7 overall and 8-4 in the Jayhawk East.

The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday when they play at Johnson County at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers are 14-10 overall and 6-6 in the Jayhawk East. Cowley needed overtime to defeat Johnson County in the first match up between the two teams.

“Johnson County is playing very well right now, they could easily have only one or two losses in the league,” Eck said.

The game can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM Arkansas City.

Box score:
Cowley (70): Preston Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Reggie Cook 6-11 2-2 18, Montrell McDonald 9-16 3-4 21, Kyle Hammerschmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Rhymes 5-8 1-2 13, Mike Atwater 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Butler 1-1 3-4 5, Jack Crowder 1-3 3-4 5, Eric McKinney 2-9 2-2 6. Totals: 25-51 14-18 70.

Coffeyville (59): Lucas Lumb 0-3 1-2 1, Lenny Daniel 3-7 3-5 9, Daniel Payne 5-14 1-1 13, Michael Johnson 1-3 0-2 2, Terrance Hill 4-17 0-0 9, J.J. Seymore 9-18 1-1 22, Jonathan Blake 1-4 0-0 3, Devron Washington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-66 6-11 59.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-11 (Cook 4-4, McDonald 0-2, Hammerschmidt 0-1, Rhymes 2-3, McKinney 0-1), Coffeyville 7-26 (Seymore 3-9, Lumb 0-3, Blake 1-3, Payne 2-8, Hill 1-3). Rebounds: Cowley 32 (McDonald 9), Coffeyville 29 (Hill 8). Assists: Cowley 10 (Four players with 2), Coffeyville 6 (three players with 2). Turnovers: Cowley 22, Coffeyville 12. Total fouls: Cowley 11, Coffeyville 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.