February 8, 2010

Tigers get back on track with 84-71 win over Independence

Coming off a tough overtime defeat at Allen County on Wednesday and having lost two games in a row following a six-game winning streak, the Cowley College men’s basketball team returned to the win column with a 84-71 victory over Independence Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The Tigers began the game red hot as they scored 13 of the first 15 points and led 30-9 following a pair of free throws by Tyrus McGee with 10:47 left in the first half.

Cowley forced Independence into 16 first half turnovers as they took a 48-30 lead into the halftime intermission. McGee and Jordan Lankster combined for 25 points on 9-fo-12 shooting in the opening half.
At halftime of the game the crowd was introduced to the newest class of the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame.

The four inductees that were honored at halftime were, All-American football player “Francis Browning Pipestem, Tiger tennis great Tim Shanahan, softball standout Kristi “Buggy” (Davis) Loney, and baseball coaching legend Dave Burroughs.

Following the induction ceremony, Cowley came out a bit flat to start the second half as Independence scored the first six points and trailed only 58-52 following a basket by Andrew Ensley with 9:55 remaining.
The turning point in the game came with the Pirates trailing 65-60, Independence missed a shot and were called for an intentional foul of McGee, who grabbed the rebound and was trying to breakaway from the pack.

McGee made both free throws and then buried a three-pointer only 18 seconds later to put Cowley on top 70-60 with 5:20 left. McGee would finish with a game-high 26 points as he went 9-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

“What can you say about Tyrus, he made so many plays for us,” Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said.

With the Tigers’ lead at nine (72-63), Lankster made a big basket to push the lead back to double digits and Cowley went on to the 13-point win.

“We never panicked, every time they got close we made a good decision,” DeSalme said. “We have been on them this week and I thought the kids really responded with their play.”

Lankster finished with a season-high 15 points as he went 5-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line.
“Jordan played really well,” DeSalme said.

Point guard Canon Fields also played well and added 16 points and a game-high seven assists. While, Michael Copeland came off the bench to lead all players with eight rebounds.

The victory keeps Cowley a game ahead of Allen County for second place in the conference. The Tigers are now 16-9 overall and 10-3 in the Jayhawk East.

Ensley led five Independence players in double figures as he finished with 15 points and five rebounds. The loss drops the Pirates’ record to 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the conference.

Cowley will return to the court on Wednesday when they host Johnson County at 7 p.m. The Cavaliers, which lead the conference in scoring at 80.8 points per game, are 11-13 overall and 2-10 in the conference.

Box score:
Independence (71): Karron McKenzie 4-7 3-9 11, Anthony Downing 3-12 5-7 13, Tokie Aromona 5-5 0-0 10, Jaurrice Magg-Downing 1-3 0-2 2, Andrew Ensley 6-12 3-4 15, Bobby Jones 1-4 3-3 5, Derrick Washington 5-11 1-1 12, Aaron Washington 1-2 0-0 3, Adam Laflin 0-0 0-0 0, Xavier Carter 0-1 0-0 0, LeBrandon Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-58 15-26 71.

Cowley (84): Canon Fields 6-9 2-2 16, Caprest Rhone 2-6 2-4 6, Lance Russell 2-7 0-0 4, Tyrus McGee 9-15 4-4 26, Dominick Cornelius 1-8 6-6 9, Kalub long 0-1 0-0 0, AJ Barber 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Wakefield 0-1 0-0 0, Kelton Marshall 2-5 0-0 5, Michael Copeland 1-1 1-3 3, Jordan Lankster 5-7 5-6 15. Totals: 28-60 20-25 84.

Three-pointers: Independence 4-13 (McKenzie 0-1, Downing 2-6, Magg-Downing 0-1, D. Washington 1-4, A. Washington 1-1), Cowley 8-18 (Fields 2-3, Rhone 0-1, Russell 0-2, Cornelius 1-3, McGee 4-7, Marshall 1-1, Lankster 0-1). Rebounds: Independence 36 (McKenzie, Magg-Downing 7), Cowley 31 (Copeland 8). Assists: Independence 13 (McKenzie), Cowley 20 (Fields 7). Turnovers: Independence 26, Cowley 22. Total fouls: Independence 20, Cowley 18. Fouled out: McKenzie. Technicals: Jones, Independence bench.