December 3, 2009

Coffeyville hands Tigers first conference loss

Unable to get much production from its big men, the Cowley College men’s basketball team suffered a 76-59 defeat at Coffeyville on Wednesday. The loss was the Tigers first in the conference as they are now 6-5 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk East.

On Wednesday, Cowley fell behind 40-23 at the end of the first half and trailed by as many as 21 points (51-30) before going on a 20-2 run to cut the Red Ravens’ lead to 53-50 with nine minutes remaining.
Coffeyville would answer with a basket, and then following a missed opportunity by the Tigers, the Red Ravens’ Cecil Shaw was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. After making the first free-throw, Shaw missed the second, but Keith Biggers was there for the put back to get Coffeyville’s lead back to eight points (58-50).

Coffeyville’s lead would return to double digits (67-55) a few minutes later and the Red Ravens never looked back in the 17-point win.

Biggers finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Coffeyville out-rebounded Cowley 52-32.
“The bottom line is toughness, we had a lot of opportunities to make plays and we didn’t do it,” Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said. “How hard we played to get back into the game, that’s how hard we have got to play the whole game.”

Freshman Tyrus McGee led Cowley with 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Caprest Rhone added 11 points, while Canon Fields chipped in with 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds. The three guards combined to score 40 of the Tigers’ 59 points. Cowley’s big men combined to score just 14 points.
Along with Biggers’ big game, 6-foot-5 sophomore Richard Townsend-Gant finished with 14 points, while Stacy Wilson added 13. Coffeyville is now 5-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

Cowley, losers of three in a row, will attempt to get back in the win column when they host Allen County Saturday at 7 p.m. The Red Devils defeated the defending NJCAA Division II national champion Johnson County Cavaliers 80-73 on Wednesday.

“We have got to find a way to get better and be ready to play Allen County on Saturday,” DeSalme said.

Box score:

Cowley (59): Canon Fields 4-9 0-0 10, Caprest Rhone 5-9 1-2 11, Brent Schuck 0-1 0-0 0, Tyrus McGee 7-18 0-0 18, Dominick Cornelius 3-11 2-2 8, Kelton Marshall 1-4 0-0 2, Michael Copeland 1-3 0-0 2, Jordan Lankster 1-3 0-0 2, Kalub Long 0-1 0-0 0, A.J. Barber 1-1 0-0 2, Lance Russell 1-6 1-4 4, Julio Rosario 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Wakefield 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-66 3-6 59.

Coffeyville (76): Cecil Shaw 2-7 4-6 8, Justin Johnson 2-9 0-0 4, Stacy Wilson 5-7 1-1 13, Richard Townsend-Gant 7-14 0-0 14, Keith Biggers 7-11 3-3 17, Andre Linzy 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Hardyway 0-1 2-2 2, Kevin Broussard 2-4 1-1 6, Jermaine Bransford 3-8 0-0 6, Albert Peterson 3-6 0-0 6, Jabril Bowlin 0-1 0-0 0, Darian Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 31-70 11-13 76.

Three-pointers: Cowley 8-24 (Fields 2-4, Rhone 1-2, Russell 1-3, McGee 4-10, Cornelius 0-2, Marshall 0-2), Coffeyville 3-14 (Linzy 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Wilson 2-4, Broussard 1-2, Bransford 0-1, Peterson 0-2, Townsend-Gant 0-1, Biggers 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 32 (Fields 9), Coffeyville 52 (Biggers 14). Assists: Cowley 12 (Fields 4), Coffeyville 13 (Biggers 6). Turnovers: Cowley 14, Coffeyville 17. Total fouls: Cowley 16, Coffeyville 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.