Fort Hays Tech Northwest completes series sweep of Tigers with 89-82 home win

The loss drops Cowley (16-9) into seventh place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 11-8. The Tigers are only one game behind four teams tied for second place, with seven conference losses.

After defeating Cowley 70-57 on December 13 in Ark City, Fort Hays Tech Northwest completed the season sweep of the Tigers, improving its overall record to 14-11 and its conference record to 9-10.

Sunday's first half was back and forth with the teams tied at 40-40 before Fort Hays Tech NW closed the half on a 9-0 run to lead 49-40.

Cowley shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the first half, yet trailed due to Fort Hays Tech making six three-pointers and going 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. Dixon scored 17 of his game-high 32 points in the game's first 20 minutes.

Cowley would trail by as many as 16 points (60-44) in the second half before closing within 71-65 on a free-throw by sophomore CJ Majors with 7:17 left to play. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Tigers would get in the seven-point road defeat.

The contest was the first since December 3 for Majors, who had missed the past 14 games due to injury. Majors would finish with 11 points in 22 minutes of action.

"It was great having CJ back on the court," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "He played his heart out."

Cowley shot 47.3 percent from the floor and went 26-of-31 from the foul line, but the 89 points they surrendered were the third most they had allowed this season.

"We played well enough offensively to win the game, but we did not have the urgency it takes to win road games on the defensive side of the ball or on the glass," Jackson said.

Dixon's 32 points came on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and 11-of-12 from the foul line.

"Dixon flat-out kicked our butt, and we did not have an answer for him," Jackson said.

Sophomores Leslie Owens Jr. and Kyden Thompson combined to go 17-of-17 from the free-throw line and led Cowley with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Cowley will return home to face a familiar opponent in Garden City, which is coached by former Tiger head coach Tommy DeSalme. The Broncbusters (16-9) are just ahead of the Tigers in the conference, with an 11-7 record.

Cowley lost by one point (83-82) when the teams met in Garden City on January 3.

"We have to shake this one off and find a way to beat Garden City at home," Jackson said. "There is still a lot to play for."

The box score can be found at https://kjccc.org/sports/mbkb/2025-26/div1/boxscores/20260215_t8sh.xml