Cowley finishes strong at Hutchinson, holds on for a 65-53 road win

After dropping its conference opener at Dodge City, the Tigers have rattled off four consecutive wins to improve their record to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson falls to 7-5 and 2-4 in the conference.

Things started slowly for Cowley with the Tigers trailing 21-17 before going into halftime with a slim, 26-24 halftime lead. Sophomore Leslie Owens scored 15 of his season-high 20 points in the opening half to keep his team in the game. Owens shot 6-of-10 from the floor in the game's first 20 minutes, while the rest of the team combined to go just 2-of-17 from the floor.

"Leslie really carried us in the first half offensively when we were struggling," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We challenged the team at halftime to prove we can win an ugly game on the road."

Out of halftime, Cowley's lead would grow to double digits (39-29) following a three-pointer by Chase Robinson with 14:50 left to play.

Trailing 47-36, Hutchinson would use an 11-1 run to pull within 48-47, and again trailed by only one point (54-53) following a three-point play by Kyrell Shaw with just under four minutes remaining.

However, Cowley would go on to score the game's final 11 points and earn the road win.

"It wasn't our finest offensive performance of the year, but a win is a win, and we will take it," Jackson said.

Freshman Marcus Smith scored 18 of his team-high 21 points in the second half as he and Owens combined for 41 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor.

"The guys showed some resilience in the second half when Hutch cut it to one point," Jackson said. "Marcus and Xavier (Vickerstaff) made big plays for the team late in the game when they needed to."

Hutchinson's Kyrell Shaw scored 23 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, but it was not enough for the Blue Dragons, who shot only 37 percent from the floor and went 4-of-17 from three-point range.

Cowley will now prepare to host Pratt on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Beavers are 3-8 on the season and 0-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. However, five of Pratt's six conference losses have been by 10 points or less.

"Pratt is a scary team," Jackson said. "I really respect Coach Kenny Eddy, and I know he will have his guys prepared. We need to have two great days of practice leading up to the game."

Box score:

Cowley (65): Leslie Owens 8-14 3-3 20, Xavier Vickerstaff 2-8 0-0 6, Roman Miller 2-8 5-5 9, Marcus Smith 6-9 8-11 21, Kyden Thompson 1-5 0-0 2, LJ Britt 0-1 1-2 1, Chase Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Jaxon Jones 2-5 0-0 4, Khai Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-53 17-21 65.

Hutchinson (53): Bobby Cannon 1-10 4-4 6, Asher Boney 1-2 1-2 3, Lolo Rudolph 3-6 1-1 7, Kyrell Shaw 8-16 8-10 26, Kordell Williams 1-4 1-3 3, Daleron Thomas 1-5 0-0 2, Anthony Alston 2-3 0-0 6, Chudier Dorar 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-46 15-20 53.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-19 (Vickerstaff 2-7, Smith 1-3, Owens 1-2, Miller 0-3, Jones 0-2, Robinson 0-1, Thompson 0-1), Hutchinson 4-17 (Shaw 2-6, Alston 2-3, Cannon 0-3, Thomas 0-2, Boney 0-1, Rudolph 0-1, Williams 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 36 (Miller 9), Hutchinson 27 (Williams 6). Assists: Cowley 5 (Smith, Thompson 2), Hutchinson 6 (Rudolph 2). Turnovers: Cowley 11, Hutchinson 15. Total fouls: Cowley 19, Hutchinson 15. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.