November 14, 2007

Cowley men overcome sluggish start to blast Friends JV 92-56

Coming off of a road trip to Colorado and playing its fourth game in eight days, the No. 25-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team turned a seven-point halftime lead over the Friends University JV into a 36-point win Tuesday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

“I didn’t feel we competed as hard as we could have in the first half and showed the last five minutes of the half that we were a little fatigued from the trip (to Colorado),” Cowley head coach Steve Eck said. “We have got to get all five guys on the court playing hard at the same time.”

The Tigers allowed the Falcons to hang with them in the first 20 minutes of play as they managed just a 38-31 lead at halftime. However, Cowley came out firing after the break as they scored the first 18 points of the second half.

Sophomore Montrell McDonald keyed the second half spurt by opening with a dunk. He then came up with his fourth blocked shot on the defensive end, which led to him draining a three-pointer on the other end of the court. McDonald scored 11 of his game-high 19 points during the 18-0 run.

The 6-foot-6 transfer also starred on the defensive end as he moved over to defend the Falcons’ point guard Jerryll Fontenot in the second half. After scoring nine first half points, Fontenot managed just two points after halftime.

“For some reason we weren’t putting pressure on the point guard like we wanted to, and if that’s going to be a problem I’m going to switch Montrell out there to the point to pressure them a bit,” Eck said. “Montrell’s long and quick, can move his feet and is pretty darn good.”

Four other Tigers joined McDonald in double figures as Eric McKinney (pictured) finished with 14 points, Jack Crowder scored 13, Jeremy McCarty had 13, and Preston Brown chipped in with 11.

The Tigers improved to 6-0 on the season. Cowley will now prepare for a tough contest on Saturday as they will host Northern Oklahoma College at 7 p.m. Cowley won at NOC on Nov. 6 by a score of 94-84.

Eck mentioned how NOC had a full house when the Tigers played at their place on Nov. 6, and he hopes the Cowley fans come out to support the team when the two rivals square off on Saturday.

“It’s a rivalry here, so hopefully our guys will understand what its all about and have some good practices,” Eck said. “I hope people will come out and support us and we will compete as hard as we can.”

Scoring:
Cowley (92): Montrell McDonald 19, Eric McKinney 14, Jack Crowder 13, Jeremy McCarty 13, Preston Brown 11, Chris Rhymes 6, Zach Miller 6, Edwin Hutton 4, Reggie Cook 3, Mike Atwater 2, Marcus Butler 1.

Friends JV (56): Jerryll Fontenot 11, Mark Bailey 11, Tim  Hull 6, Derrick Simmonds 6, Austin Collins 4, Travis Buller 3, Colton Drzymalla 2, Paul Teran 2, Cory Barone 2, Laron Nordstedt 2, Dennis Shirley 2.