Zeigler hits the game-winner as Cowley rallies to beat Triton 58-57

Having watched top-seed Snow Community College (UT) get ousted from the national tournament in the game before theirs, the second-seeded Cowley College Tigers were on upset alert heading into its contest vs. 15^th-seed Triton College (IL) in the second round of the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS. The Tigers trailed by 12 (30-18) at halftime before using a furious second-half rally to defeat the Trojans 58-57 on sophomore Marcus Zeigler's basket with 8.9 seconds left.

Cowley (30-4) achieves 30 wins for only the second time in program history, with the previous time coming during the 2007-08 season (31-3). The Tigers advance to Wednesday afternoon's quarterfinal round at 2:30 p.m.

"The first five minutes of the second half was huge, and I want to give Emarquis (Jones) a lot of credit for picking us up," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We also started getting better shots and stopped settling for perimeter shots."

Triton advanced to face Cowley after defeating Columbia State College in the opening round of the tourney, while the Tigers received a bye in the first round. The Trojans finish the year with a record of 29-6.

Cowley held Triton scoreless for the first three and a half minutes but was unable to gain much separation early as the Tigers led 4-2 at the first media timeout.

Both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively. They each started 3-of-12 shooting, and Cowley led 8-7 with less than 11 minutes left in the first half.

The Trojans grabbed their first lead at 11-9 following a pair of free throws from Vijay Wallace with 8:45 remaining before halftime.

Triton's lead would grow to double digits (24-13) after a three-pointer by Wallace with 4:13 left in the half. A banked-in three-pointer by Kaiden Space helped the Trojans double up Cowley with a lead of 28-14.

The Tigers shot only 20 percent (5-of-25) in the first half and went 0-for-10 from three-point range as they went into halftime trailing 30-18.

"We always believe in our brothers, and they picked me up when I was down, so I tried to do the same when they needed me," Emarquis Jones said.

Cowley would come out a different team after intermission, with sophomore Shamarrie Hugie burying back-to-back three-pointers and a steal, followed by a dunk by Marcus Whitlock, forcing Triton to call timeout with the Tigers within four at 30-26.

A Whitlock three-pointer would extend the run to 11-0 and pull Cowley within 30-29 before Triton was finally able to score.

A thunderous jam by sophomore Emarquis Jones brought the Tiger fans to their feet and tied the score at 33-33 with 14:30 remaining. Only moments later, sophomore Avante Nichols made a steal and a dunk of his own to give Cowley its first lead (35-33) since 9-7.

After another steal and layup by Dallas Whitney increased the Tigers' lead to 39-33, the Trojans were forced to call another timeout as Cowley's run extended to 21-3.

"That is having sophomores and returners that have played college basketball," Jackson said.

Triton would cut the Tigers' lead to 46-45 with 7:35 remaining. However, Cowley answered with baskets from Hugie and Zeigler to lead 50-45.

Once again, Triton would respond and close within one (50-49) with 5:32 remaining. This time, following a missed shot by Jones, the Trojans would go in front on a free throw by Tolu Samuels and a putback by Machar to lead 52-50.

Two free throws by Zeigler would tie the score at 52-52 at the under-four-minute timeout.

Whitlock would put Cowley back in front 54-52 on a driving shot with 2:53 left to play. But, the Trojans would tie the game and regain the lead at 55-54 after Wallace went 1-of-2 from the foul line with 1:05 remaining.

Needing a basket, Hugie burrowed his way to the basket to score and give Cowley a 56-55 advantage with 45 seconds on the clock.

After Triton went back ahead 57-56 on a basket by Wallace with 27 seconds left, Zeigler hit what would turn out to be the game-winner with 8.9 seconds remaining.

"The ball ended up bouncing into my hands, and I put in a little floater," Zeigler said. "It's March, so crazy things happen."

Still, Cowley had to hold its breath as Space missed a driving layup, and Samuels's tip-in attempt was no good. Whitney grabbed the rebound, and the final horn sounded.

"Marcus (Zeigler) is a big game player and has made big plays for us all year long," Jackson said.

Zeigler finished with nine points, four steals, and three assists. Hugie led the Tigers with 17 points, while Whitlock added 12.

Mahar led Triton with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the defeat.

Cowley will await to see who they will play in Wednesday's quarterfinal round.

"Everybody is good at the national tournament, so we need to focus on the next game," Jackson said.

The box score can be found at https://tinyurl.com/269lat2z