February 25, 2008

Cowley grabs sole possession of first place in Jayhawk East

Playing Independence Community College in front of a raucous home crowd Saturday at W. S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 13-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team gained sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division with a 79-75 win.

The win was the Tigers’ ninth in a row and moved Cowley one game ahead of the Pirates in the conference. The victory also avenged the Tigers’ lone conference loss at Independence on Jan. 23.

“I thought we had a great crowd,” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said. “This win was a team effort.”

Cowley’s loss at Independence on Jan. 23 occurred in the midst of a brutal road stretch in which they played four road games in seven days. The tables were turned this time around as the Pirates were in the midst of playing their fourth straight road game.

“I think our legs were a little fresher than theirs were,” Eck said.

Cowley rallied from a five-point second half deficit (43-38) to lead by as many as 14 points (75-61) with just under two minutes remaining. Independence scored 14 points in the final 1:22 but it was not enough as the Tigers held on for the important conference win.

The victory improves Cowley’s record to 26-2 overall and 15-1 in the Jayhawk East, while Independence falls to 23-5 overall and 14-2 in the conference.

Cowley sophomore Chris Rhymes, who had to sit out the final 15 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, had a big second half and finished with a game-high 20 points. Sophomore post player Eric McKinney also elevated his play in the second half as he scored 11 of his 13 points in the game’s final 20 minutes of play. McKinney finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

“Eric is playing pretty good basketball,” Eck said.

After missing the past two games, Jack Crowder returned to the Tiger lineup and scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Montrell McDonald added 12 points and seven assists, while Preston Brown chipped in with 10 points.

The Tigers did a good job defensively on the Pirates’ leading scorer, Antonio Hanson, who entered the game averaging 19.5 points per contest. Hanson missed all seven of his shots in the first half and finished with just 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the floor.

The Tigers will host Fort Scott in its final regular season home game Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds are just 7-21 overall and 2-14 in the Jayhawk East, but played Cowley tough in a 82-70 loss on Jan. 26. Fort Scott is also coming off a 81-76 win over Labette on Saturday.

“I thought we played about as good as we could the first time we played them and we were barely good enough to beat them,” Eck said. “They are a scary team and are very fast.”

Box score:
Independence (75): Antonio Hanson 4-17 5-6 14, James Bush 7-16 4-8 18, T.J. Stukes 2-4 2-5 6, Donald Rowe 6-11 1-1 15, Daniel Rowe 3-11 1-2 9, Nebojsa Zlatic 0-0 0-0 0, Mekan Moss 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Heard 1-1 0-0 2, James Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Craion 4-6 1-4 11. Totals: 27-67 14-26 75.

Cowley (79): Preston Brown 4-7 1-2 10, Reggie Cook 2-8 4-5 8, Montrell McDonald 5-9 2-5 12, Kyle Hammerschmidt 0-1 2-2 2, Chris Rhymes 8-14 4-8 20, Mike Atwater 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Butler 0-0 1-2 1, Jack Crowder 6-7 1-2 13, Eric McKinney 3-10 7-9 13. Totals: 28-56 22-35 79.

Three-pointers: Independence 7-19 (Hanson 1-6, Bush 0-1, Donald Rowe 2-3, Daniel Rowe 2-7, Craion 2-2), Cowley 1-6 (Brown 1-1, Cook 0-4, Rhymes 0-1). Rebounds: Independence 36 (Donald Rowe 9), Cowley 33 (McKinney 12). Assists: Independence 8 (Donald Rowe 4), Cowley 17 (McDonald 7). Turnovers: Independence 18, Cowley 15. Total fouls: Independence 25, Cowley 17. Fouled out: Stukes. Technicals: none.