December 7, 2009

Tigers snap skid with 79-75 win over Allen County

Having been hampered by back spasms, Cowley College sophomore Lance Russell fought through the injury to hit five three pointers and finish with a team-high 19 points as the Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 79-75 win over Allen County Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Russell, who averaged 13.2 points per game during the Tigers’ 5-0 start, had averaged only 4.5 points over the past four games due to the injury, which caused him to miss both games at the Pratt Classic.
“He can do so many things for us and was a big part of the win on Saturday,” Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said.

Russell’s final three-pointer of the night increased Cowley’s lead to 70-57 with 5:40 remaining. However, Allen County responded with a 12-2 run, which was capped by a basket by Andre Bailey with 1:31 left to play, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 72-69.
Tyrus McGee’s jumper with 1:02 remaining pushed Cowley’s lead back to five points (74-69), and Cowley would add a pair of free throws from Canon Fields and two more from McGee to lead 78-69 with 22.3 seconds left.

Instead of going away quietly, Allen County got a three-point play from Bailey with 12 seconds left and then regained possession of the basketball on a jump ball situation with 8.8 seconds left.

The Red Devils got the ball into Keevis Tukes, who hit his fifth three-pointer of the game, cutting Cowley’s lead to 78-75 with 3.4 seconds remaining. The Tigers then got the ball in to Fields, who was fouled with 2.3 seconds left. Fields hit 1-of-2 free throws and Cowley escaped with the four-point win.
Although they had to survive a scare at the end, DeSalme was pleased to beat an Allen County team, which was coming off an 80-73 win over Johnson County in its conference opener.

“I am proud to get a conference win against a good Allen (County) team and get to 3-1 in the conference,” DeSalme said. “I thought we played much better offensively and defensively as a team.”
Along with Russell’s big night, Canon Fields had a strong game running the Tiger offense as he finished the night with 15 points and a season-high 10 assists.
“Canon makes good decisions with the basketball and made a lot of plays in the spread (offense) situation,” DeSalme said.

McGee and Dominick Cornelius each finished with 12 points as Cowley improves to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the Jayhawk East. Allen County is now 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Bailey, the conference’s leading rebounder at 13.7 rebounds per game, finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Bailey had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone. Tukes was the only other Red Devil to finish in double figures as he scored a game-high 21 points.
Cowley will now prepare to play its final game of the first semester when they host Seminole State College Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Tigers won at Seminole State 70-67 on Nov. 5. The Trojans are 8-3 on the season.

“I would like to finish off on a good note against a really good team,” DeSalme said.

Box score:

Allen County (75): Aaron Jackson 2-8 4-5 8, Dennis Rumph 1-5 0-0 2, Anthony Clagett 2-6 5-7 9, Greg Hayes 1-7 0-0 2, Andra Bailey 6-9 6-7 19, Keevis Tukes 6-13 4-4 21, Erik Law 2-4 4-6 8, Chris Lee 2-2 2-2 6. Totals: 22-54 25-31 75.
Cowley (79): Canon Fields 4-7 6-8 15, Lance Russell 7-13 0-2 19, Tyrus McGee 4-11 2-2 12, Michael Copeland 3-5 0-3 6, Jordan Lankster 1-2 1-2 3, Caprest Rhone 1-4 2-4 4, Dominick Cornelius 5-10 2-2 12, Kelton Marshall 3-8 0-2 6, Kalub Long 0-3 0-0 0, AJ Barber 0-1 0-0 0, Brent Schuck 1-2 0-0 2, Julio Rosario 0-1 0-0 0, Joseph Wakefield 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-68 13-25 79.

Three-pointers: Allen County 6-20 (Jackson 0-4, Clagett 0-1, Hayes 0-3, Bailey 1-2, Tukes 5-9, Law 0-1), Cowley 8-22 (Fields 1-2, Russell 5-9, McGee 2-8, Rhone 0-1, Marshall 0-2). Rebounds: Allen County 35 (Bailey 13), Cowley 34 (Marshall 8). Assists: Allen County 6 (Clagett 3), Cowley 22 (Fields 10). Turnovers: Allen County 21, Cowley 11. Total fouls: Allen County 20, Cowley 26. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.