Cowley men’s basketball team picks up 81-61 road win at Pratt

The victory was the fifth in the Tigers' past six games, as they are now 16-8 overall and tied for fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference at 11-7. Cowley is just a half game behind Independence and Dodge City for second place in the conference and two games behind conference-leading Butler.

Freshman Marcus Smith scored nine of his game-high 22 points during the opening 25-7 run.

"Marcus set the tone and got us off to a good start," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Behind 13 first-half points from Marcus Smith and seven points apiece from Jordan Smith and Roman Miller, the Tigers went into halftime with a 41-24 advantage.

Pratt would score the first four points of the second half to pull within 13 points of the Tigers, but that would be as close as they would get in the 20-point home loss.

Cowley led by as many as 26 points (75-49) and had seven players score eight or more points. Leslie Owens Jr. and Jordan Smith combined to make 9-of-12 shots from the floor while pulling down nine rebounds.

"Leslie and Jordan did a great job around the basket on both ends."

Cowley held Pratt to 38.3 percent shooting from the floor, while the Beavers made only 3-of-16 three-point attempts.

"I thought we did a great job of locating their shooters and not letting them feel comfortable," Jackson said. "We still need to improve, but I was proud of our defensive effort."

Seydina Faye came off the bench to lead Pratt with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers will remain on the road to face Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Goodland, KS. Fort Hays Tech (13-11) is 8-10 in the conference, with one of those wins coming at Cowley, 70-57 in the final game of the first semester.

"We have a huge road game at Tech on Sunday," Jackson said. "All of us are playing for seeding in the playoffs. Tech is a very well-coached team, and Coach Shaw has his guys playing good ball. We will need to give our best effort."

Box score:

Cowley (81): Marcus Smith 9-17 2-2 22, Leslie Owens Jr. 4-6 1-2 9, Kyden Thompson 3-6 1-1 8, Jordan Smith 5-6 1-2 11, Roman Miller 3-9 4-4 11, LJ Britt 2-7 0-0 4, Chase Robinson 3-7 2-4 8, Xavier Vickerstaff 3-7 0-0 8, Aven Mboule 0-0 0-0 0, Khai Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 32-66 11-15 81.

Pratt (61): Hunter Vaughn 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Robinson 5-12 3-4 13, Keletigui Kane 1-5 3-3 5, Scottie Guillory 1-7 0-0 3, Muna Godswill 3-5 0-0 6, AJ Akot 1-4 0-0 2, Kisean Robinson 3-10 1-4 7, Tomohito Kobari 1-1 0-0 2, Seydina Faye 5-9 5-6 15, Izeyah Harris 1-2 0-0 2, Javyn Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Galvin Luketa 2-4 0-0 6. Totals: 23-60 12-17 61.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-20 (Vickertstaff 2-6, Smith 2-5, Miller 1-5, Thompson 1-1, Britt 0-3), Pratt 3-16 (Luketa 2-3, Guillory 1-4, J. Robinson 0-4, K. Robinson 0-3, Kane 0-1, Faye 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 35 (Smith 7), Pratt 34 (Faye 8). Assists: Cowley 12 (Thompson, Britt 3), Pratt 7 (J. Robinson, K. Robinson 2). Turnovers: Cowley 9, Pratt 10. Total fouls: Cowley 12, Pratt 13. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.