January 11, 2010

Tiger men fall to Dodge City 79-66

Allowing Dodge City to shoot 52 percent from the floor, the Cowley College men’s basketball team suffered its second straight defeat at the Jayhawk Shootout in Coffeyville.

On Sunday, the score was tied 11-11 before Dodge City went on a 20-2 run to lead 31-13 after 10 minutes of play. The Tigers went scoreless for nearly six minutes during the decisive run.

“We missed a lot of easy shots and it kind of got away from us there,” Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said.

The Tigers trailed 45-27 at the end of the first half and could not overcome the poor start as they lost to the Conquistadors by a score of 79-66.

Despite the loss, DeSalme thought his team continued to battle.

“We responded much better in the second half,” DeSalme said. “When you are going through some things as a team, you sometimes have to take little baby steps, and I was proud of the way we fought in the second half.”

Dodge City shot a blistering 56 percent in the first half as they opened up an 18-point lead. After shooting only 28 percent in the opening half, Cowley shot 47 percent in the second half but could not make up for its 2-of-17 shooting from three-point range.

The loss drops Cowley’s record to 9-7 on the season, while Dodge City improves to 13-3.

Jordan Wilcox went 5-of-6 from three-point range as he led five Dodge City players in double figures with 19 points. Bruce Massey Jr. added 14 points as he scored 12 of his points from the free-throw line.

Freshman Dominick Cornelius led Cowley with 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out of the contest. Point guard Canon Fields added 10 points and eight boards. However, Tyrus McGee, who leads the Tigers with an average of 13.8 points per game, got in early foul trouble and finished with only five points on 2-of-4 shooting. The team’s second leading scorer, Lance Russell, was only 1-of-11 from the floor.

Cowley will attempt to get back on track when they play at Independence Wednesday at 8 p.m. The Pirates are 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk East.

Tiger head coach Tommy DeSalme will be making his first trip back to face his former team, which he led to a record of 45-19 in two seasons prior to coming to Cowley.

“It’s Cowley and Independence and that does not change,” DeSalme said. “It’s going to be a dog fight. Independence is playing well, so we have got to play at a high level to go on the road and try to steal a win. When we understand how tough we need to play as a team we will be just fine.”

Box score:
Dodge City (79): Matt Heydman 1-2 1-2 3, Duray Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Chuck Coley 3-10 5-6 11, Jordan Wilcox 7-10 0-0 19, Bruce Massey Jr. 1-3 12-17 14, Arjok Guguai 1-3 0-0 2, Mykael Thompson 4-7 4-6 13, Christian Salazar 2-3 1-2 5, Mitch Goedeken 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Barnes 6-9 0-2 12. Totals: 25-48 23-35 79.

Cowley (66): Canon Fields 3-10 4-6 10, Caprest Rhone 1-4 0-0 2, Kalub Long 2-2 0-0 4, AJ Barber 2-2 0-0 4, Brent Schuck 0-1 0-0 0, Lance Russell 1-11 6-8 9, Julio Rosario 1-1 0-0 2, Joseph Wakefield 1-4 0-0 2, Tyrus McGee 2-4 0-0 5, Dominick Cornelius 7-15 1-4 15, Kelton Marshall 3-7 2-4 8, Michael Copeland 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Lankster 2-4 1-2 5. Totals: 25-67 14-24 66.

Three-pointers: Dodge City 6-15 (Heydman 0-1, Coley 0-4, Wilcox 5-6, Massey Jr. 0-1, Guguai 0-1, Thompson 1-2), Cowley 2-17 (Fields 0-4, Rhone 0-1, Russell 1-7, McGee 1-3, Marshall 0-2). Rebounds: Dodge City 41 (Coley 8), Cowley 38 (Fields 8). Assists: Dodge City 13 (Massey Jr, Thompson 5), Cowley 10 (Fields 4). Turnovers: Dodge City 16, Cowley 16. Total fouls: Dodge City 23, Cowley 28. Fouled out: Cornelius. Technicals: none.