February 21, 2008

Cowley nets eighth straight win, 108-54 over Labette

Leading 29-3 ten minutes into its home game against Labette on Wednesday, the No. 13-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team cruised to a 108-54 win over the Cardinals.

The victory was the Tigers’ eighth in a row and improves Cowley’s record to 25-2 overall and 14-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The 108 points marks the fourth time this season Cowley has scored more than 100 points in a game.

Eric McKinney, who set a school-record with nine blocks in Saturday’s win over Highland, went 10-for-10 from the floor and finished with 23 points and six rebounds.

Chris Rhymes added 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Preston Brown chipped in with 14 points, while Kyle Hammerschmidt and Montrell McDonald finished with 13 points a piece.

All nine Tigers scored in the win, including Mike Atwater, who finished with a season-high nine points and four assists. Cowley shot a season-high 67.2 percent from the floor, while holding Labette to just 33.8 percent shooting.

Terry Dawson was the lone Labette player to score in double figures as he finished with 17 points. The Cardinals are now 5-22 overall and 1-14 in the conference.

Cowley will now prepare for a huge game on Saturday as they will battle conference co-leader Independence at 7 p.m. The No. 20-ranked Pirates (handed the Tigers their only conference loss on Jan. 23.

“They are a good ball team,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said. “Every game is important. We will just go out and play Saturday and see what happens.”

Box score:
Labette (54): Lencoya Strain 2-8 1-1 5, Gary Cooper 2-11 5-9 9, Nathan Beachner 2-6 0-0 6, Aaron Irving 1-8 0-0 2, Terry Dawson 8-11 1-2 17, Mekaile Reed 3-7 0-1 6, Chris Woodson 0-1 0-0 0, Ismar Neto 2-5 0-0 4, Jack Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0, Aaron Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Andrija Tintor 2-6 1-2 5. Totals: 22-65 8-15 54.

Cowley (108): Preston Brown 4-6 6-9 14, Reggie Cook 3-5 1-2 8, Montrell McDonald 6-9 1-5 13, Kyle Hammerschmidt 5-6 1-2 13, Chris Rhymes 7-12 4-8 18, Mike Atwater 3-5 2-3 9, Marcus Butler 4-8 0-1 8, Zach Miller 1-3 0-0 2, Eric McKinney 10-10 3-4 23. Totals: 43-64 18-34 108.

Three-pointers: Labette 2-17 (Strain 0-4, Beachner 2-6, Irving 0-1, Reed 0-3, Neto 0-1, Kennedy 0-1, Tintor 0-1), Cowley 4-11 (Cook 1-2, McDonald 0-2, Hammerschmidt 2-2, Rhymes 0-1, Atwater 1-2, Butler 0-1, Miller 0-1). Rebounds: Labette 30 (Tintor 6), Cowley 35 (Rhymes 9). Assists: Labette 7 (Woodson 6), Cowley 27 (McDonald, Rhymes). Turnovers: Labette 23, Cowley 18. Total fouls: Labette 27, Cowley 16. Fouled out: Strain. Technicals: Neto, Watts, McDonald.

Photo by Donita Clausen/Traveler