Tiger basketball team goes 2-0 at Cowley Classic

Cowley opened with an 80-58 win over Western Nebraska before defeating Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 76-68.

Facing former Cowley College assistant coach Roybell Baez and his Western Nebraska squad on Friday, the Tigers started slow and trailed the Cougars 24-23 before heading into halftime with a 34-29 lead.

Tiger sophomore Leslie Owens scored 11 first-half points to help Cowley to the five-point advantage.

Cowley's lead would grow to double-digits (41-30) early in the second half on a three-pointer by freshman Xavier Vickerstaff. However, the Cougars would pull within 50-44 midway through the second half before the Tigers scored six straight points and were never threatened again.

"It took us a while to settle into the game," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "Once we started guarding the ball better, we were able to take them out of what they wanted to do, and it allowed us to go on a couple runs in the second half."

Cowley shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the second half, while going 15-of-17 from the free-throw line.

Owens led six Tigers in double figures with 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Freshman Chase Robinson also played well, scoring all 11 of his points in the game's final 20 minutes of play.

"I thought Leslie really settled us in and was our go-to guy when we needed to make a play, and Chase Robinson stepped up big for us in the second half," Jackson said.

Viktor Lukic-Gravic and Isaiah St. Preux led Western Nebraska with 12 points apiece.

The Tigers came back on Saturday to face Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, which handed Cowley its lone home defeat during the 2024-25 season.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Norsemen went into halftime with a 38-34 lead. Cowley shot only 38 percent in the opening half, while going 3-of-17 from three-point range. The Norsemen benefited at the charity stripe, making 13-of-14 foul shots in the opening half.

NEO would lead by as many as 11 points (51-40) and held a 54-47 advantage with just under 12 minutes left. However, the Tigers answered back and regained the lead at 57-56 following a three-pointer by freshman Marcus Smith.

NEO would go back in front, 66-65, following a dunk by Kenye Costa with 4:20 remaining, but Cowley would regain the lead on a dunk by Jaxson Jones and never looked back, finishing the game on an 11-2 run.

"I thought the guys showed a lot of resilience against NEO," Jackson said. "We did not shoot the ball very well and battled some foul issues; we struggled against their physicality and size, but despite all of those things, we found a way to keep fighting and made a run when it mattered most to win the game."

Smith led Cowley with 13 points despite shooting just 3-of-16 from the floor. Freshman Roman Miller came off the bench to add 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Vickerstaff added 11 points.

"The unsung heroes of this game were Kyden Thompson, LJ Britt, Jaxson Jones, and Jordan Smith," Jackson said. "They all changed the dynamic of the game with the energy plays that they made. It was also good to see Marcus and Xavier hit a couple of big second-half threes. Roman (Miller) also got the crowd into it with a couple of big dunks."

Costa led NEO with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds.

Butler Community College, led by former Tiger assistant coach Eric Nitsche, was the other team at the Cowley Classic.

"It was great to see former Tiger coaches Roybell Baez and Eric Nitsche," Jackson said. "It felt like a family reunion with all of them here, and we are appreciative that they participated in the Cowley Classic."

Cowley will remain home to face Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Mavericks are 3-0 on the season and are coming off a 71-68 win over Ranger College.

"Things do not get any easier on Tuesday with rival NOC-Tonkawa coming to town," Jackson said. "They are 3-0, they are very deep, and Coach Gossett has them playing very well together. We will need to compete for a full 40 minutes."

Box score vs. Western Nebraska can be found at https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20251107_582l.xml

Box score vs. NEO can be found at https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20251108_05mo.xml