January 21, 2010

Tigers win fourth straight, move into first place in Jayhawk East

Building a 19-point first half lead (32-13) Wednesday at Fort Scott, the Cowley College men’s basketball team staved off a second half rally to defeat the Greyhounds 70-58. The victory was Cowley’s fourth in a row and moved the Tigers into sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

The game was Cowley’s fourth in a week, which included four wins, three of which came on the road. Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme did not think it was a pretty win, but was happy to cap the stretch of games with another victory.

“It looked like our fourth game in a week,” DeSalme said. “Fort Scott battled and we did not knock them out. Overall, it was a good stretch, we played four games and won all of them.”

Cowley jumped on the Greyhounds from the start as they led 19-4 midway through the first half. The Tigers’ lead would grow to 19 points before settling for a 34-21 halftime lead.

The Greyhounds, which have struggled to a record of 3-15 overall and 0-6 in conference play, continued to battle in the second half as they scored six quick points to cut Cowley’s lead to 34-27.

Fort Scott would get within four points of the Tigers (50-46) with 6:30 remaining, but Cowley sophomore Lance Russell hit a three-pointer on the Tigers’ next possession to push the lead back to seven (53-46).

With Cowley clinging to a six-point lead (57-51) with under three minutes remaining, Tyrus McGee’s jumper keyed an 8-0 run which helped put the game away. McGee finished with 14 points on the night.
“Tyrus wasn’t great but he hit some big time shots,” DeSalme said.

Russell led Cowley with 15 points, while freshman point guard Canon Fields added 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds. The Tigers are now 13-7 overall and 7-1 in the Jayhawk East. Three teams are tied for second in the conference, with Neosho County, Independence, and Coffeyville each having conference records of 5-1.

Ramell Taylor led Fort Scott with 18 points and seven rebounds in the defeat. Jamaal McCoy hit all seven of his shots from the floor and added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Cowley will have a week off before hosting Kansas City next Wednesday at 7 p.m. Beginning with the Kansas City game, Cowley will once again play four games in seven days.

“We have got to get better and get focused and ready for a big stretch of games,” DeSalme said.

Box score:
Cowley (70): Canon Fields 3-9 3-4 10, Lance Russell 4-6 4-4 15, Tyrus McGee 6-10 2-5 14, Dominick Cornelius 3-10 0-0 6, Kelton Marshall 0-4 2-4 2, Caprest Rhone 3-4 0-0 7, Kalub Long 2-2 0-0 4, AJ Barber 2-3 0-0 5, Brent Schuck 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Copeland 0-2 0-0 0, Julio Rosario 1-2 1-2 3, Jordan Lankster 2-3 0-1 4, Joseph Wakefield 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-56 10-15 70.

Fort Scott: Robert Hatcher 4-5 1-1 9, Ramell Taylor 7-13 3-5 18, Alex Barner 3-13 0-0 6, Jamal McCoy 7-7 1-3 15, Jacob Gougler 3-9 0-0 8, Robert Mason 0-0 2-4 2, Caleb Brown 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 24-50 7-13 58.
Three-pointers: Cowley 8-19 (Fields 1-3, Rhone 1-2, Barber 1-2, Russell 3-5, McGee 2-5, Cornelius 0-2), Fort Scott 3-15 (Brown 0-2, Taylor 1-2, Barner 0-4, Gougler 2-7). Rebounds: Cowley 32 (Fields 6), Fort Scott 33 (McCoy 8). Assists: Cowley 14 (Fields 8), Fort Scott 5 (Hatcher 2). Turnovers: Cowley 10, Fort Scott 20. Total fouls: Cowley 15, Fort Scott 15. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.