Smith goes off for 30 points in Tigers' 91-81 win over No. 15-ranked Dodge City

The victory moves Cowley (12-7) into a tie for fifth place in the Jayhawk Conference with Fort Hays Tech Northwest, as both squads are 7-6. Dodge City, losers of two games in a row, falls to 13-7 overall and into a tie for second place in the conference with Seward and Independence, with a record of 9-5.

Monday's game featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes.

In a first half that had eight ties, Cowley went into halftime with a slim 35-32 lead.

The Tigers shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the second half and went 15-of-20 from the foul line as they turned a three-point halftime lead into a 10-point win.

Sophomore Kyden Thompson (12 points) and freshman Marcus Smith each came up clutch, hitting three-pointers late in the shot clock.

"Sometimes it takes someone making a big play, and I thought Kyden Thompson and Marcus Smith hit some dagger threes," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "Those two threes gave us the separation we needed."

Smith has scored 30 or more points in a game three times this season and is averaging 18.6 points per game.

"Marcus is a difference maker," Jackson said. "I am challenging him to put it all together and not just be a scorer because he has that ability in him."

After going 5-of-11 from three-point range in the opening half, Dodge City made just 1-of-7 three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes of play.

"I thought our team fought for each other in the second half and got just enough stops when we needed to," Jackson said.

Cowley freshman Jordan Smith came off the bench to have his best game of the season, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes of action.

"He brought high energy on the offensive end and to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes speaks to what he could be," Jackson said. "If he can continue getting better, he can be a big X factor for us."

Sophomore Leslie Owens Jr. added 11 points and a season-high seven assists. Xavier Vickerstaff was the fourth Tiger to score in double figures with 10 points.

Derrick Rivers led Dodge City with 27 points, while Ricky Loftin II added 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Cowley will play at Cloud County on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The T-birds have won six of their past seven games and are coming off an overtime win at Barton, where they rallied from 22 points down in the second half.

"It will be a dog fight," Jackson said. "They are one of the more physical teams in the league, so we will need to be a lot more physical than we were against Dodge."

Box score:

Dodge City (81): Rickey Loftin 9-19 2-2 20, Derrick Rivers 9-22 7-7 27, Andrew Mabry 1-3 0-0 3, Brad Johnson 4-8 2-2 11, Jayvion Nurse 3-9 4-4 12, Jordan Russell 1-1 2-2 4, Christian Brockett 1-3 0-0 2, Koch-Deng Koch 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Houston 0-1 2-4 2. Totals: 28-66, 19-21 81.

Cowley (91): Marcus Smith 8-13 11-13 30, Leslie Owens 3-6 5-7 11, Chase Robinson 2-3 0-0 4, Kyden Thompson 4-6 3-4 12, Roman Miller 3-6 1-4 9, LJ Britt 1-2 0-0 2, Xavier Vickerstaff 3-12 3-3 10, Jordan Smith 5-7 3-4 13, Khai Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 29-57 26-35 91.

Three-pointers: Dodge City 6-18 (Rivers 2-5, Nurse 2-4, Johnson 1-4, Mabry 1-2, Loftin 0-3), Cowley 7-20 (Smith 3-5, Miller 2-3, Vickerstaff 1-7, Thompson 1-3, Brown 0-2). Rebounds: Dodge City 33 (Loftin 10), Cowley 33 (Thompson, J. Smith 7).Assists: Dodge 8 (Johnson 4), Cowley 14 (Owens 7). Turnovers: Dodge 9, Cowley 11. Total fouls: Dodge 23, Cowley 19. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.