Tigers improve to 11-1 at home with a 90-61 victory over Pratt

Opening the second round of conference games, the No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team shot 57 percent in a 90-61 victory over Pratt Community College on Wednesday night inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley (17-2) has won four games in a row and eight straight at home to improve its record to 12-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The loss drops Pratt's record to 8-10 overall and 4-8 in the conference.

The Tigers started slowly, trailing the Beavers 17-11 nine minutes into Wednesday's contest. However, Cowley answered with a 16-0 run to lead 27-17 after a basket by Marcus Whitlock, Jr. Whitlock scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the first half as the Tigers took a 42-30 lead into halftime.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Whitlock increased Cowley's lead to 61-41 and the Tigers would go on to lead by as many as 32 points in the victory.

Whitlock, who leads the Tigers with an average of 16 points per game, finished with 27 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting from three-point range.

"When he gets going, it is fun to watch," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Kyden Thompson and Dallas Whitney came off the bench to combine for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor, and Cowley assisted on 20 of its 33 baskets.

"I like that we were unselfish with the basketball," Jackson said. "Our bench brought a lot of energy as they do night in and night out. We wanted to keep fresh legs going into Seward on Saturday."

Pratt's Jarrett Dingle went 0-for-13 from the floor, and the Beavers were held to 35 percent shooting. Joseph Opareke led Pratt with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers will play at last place, Seward County, on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Saints are 3-15 overall and 2-11 in the conference following a 76-66 win over Cloud County in its last contest. Cowley will then play at Dodge City (6-13) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

"We have two tough road games, so we will need to have the right mindset," Jackson said.

Box score:

Pratt (61): Hunter Vaughn 4-13 2-2 13, Jarrett Dingle 0-13 8-10 8, Jakobe Clark 2-6 1-2 5, Joseph Opareke 10-16 4-6 24, Ajiet Akot 2-8 1-1 5, Raza Majid 3-4 0-0 6. Totals: 21-60 16-21 61.

Cowley (90): Shamarrie Hugie 1-3 2-2 4, Marcus Zeigler 3-6 1-2 7, CJ Majors 3-7 0-0 7, Marcus Whitlock 9-13 2-2 27, Teagan Charles 1-2 0-0 2, Emarquis Jones 2-7 2-2 7, Avante Nichols 3-4 2-5 9, Dallas Whitney 5-8 2-3 13, Kyden Thompson 6-8 2-2 14, Xavier Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 33-58 13-18 90.

Three-pointers: Pratt 3-17 (Vaughn 3-11, Dingle 0-4, Clark 0-2), Cowley 11-30 (Whitlock 7-11, Majors 1-5, Jones 1-3, Whitney 1-3, Nichols 1-2, Hugie 0-2, Zeigler 0-2, Thompson 0-2). Rebounds: Pratt 28 (Opareke, Akot 10), Cowley 35 (Whitlock 9). Assists: Pratt 9 (Dingle 4), Cowley 20 (Hugie 5). Turnovers: Pratt 15, Cowley 13. Total fouls: Pratt 16, Cowley 15. Fouled out: Akot. Technicals: none.