Tigers pay back Garden City with a 100-76 win on Homecoming Night

With both teams entering the game with identical records of 16-9 overall and 11-8 in the Jayhawk Conference standings, Wednesday's game had significant conference implications as Cowley (17-9) moved into a tie with Coffeyville and Independence for fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference with conference marks of 12-8.

Garden City head coach Tommy DeSalme, who was Jackson's long-time mentor and the all-time wins leader in the history of the Cowley College men's basketball program, made his return to Ark City after previously coaching in the conference at Cowley and Hutchinson.

The duo has now faced each other 25 times in their storied rivalry, with Jackson leading the head-to-head series 15-10.

On Wednesday, Cowley trailed 33-30 before closing the first half on a 13-4 run to lead 43-37.

Garden City would pull within 45-42 early in the second half, but the Tigers quickly pushed the lead to double digits and led 68-52 following a three-point play by freshman LJ Britt with 9:45 remaining.

The Tigers would go on to lead by as many as 30 points (97-67) and hit the century mark on a three-pointer by freshman Khai Brown.

Cowley went 26-of-27 from the free-throw line and got a career-high 24 points from sophomore Kyden Thompson, who added six assists and four rebounds. Fellow sophomores Leslie Owens Jr. (15 points, four rebounds) and CJ Majors (12 points, seven boards) also played well as the Tigers' three sophomores combined for 51 points and 15 rebounds.

"The sophomores are playing like sophomores right now," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "CJ still has some rust, but the intensity he brings provides a boost for the team."

The Tigers forced Garden City into 15 turnovers while committing only five. Cowley also held Garden City to a season-low 76 points.

"I enjoyed watching our defensive intensity and the urgency we played with," Jackson said.

Jamir Westry's 12 points led Garden City.

Cowley will face another familiar face on Saturday at 3 p.m. when former Tiger assistant coach Eric Nitsche brings his first-place Butler Grizzlies to town. Butler, ranked 16^th, is 18-8 overall and 14-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Grizzlies defeated Cowley 96-75 on January 7 in El Dorado, KS.

"We owe Butler and need to have that same kind of defensive intensity when we play them," Jackson said. "Butler plastered us the first time we played them, and we will need to have two great practices if we want to beat them on Saturday. We will need all of Tiger Nation to come out and support us on Saturday."

Box score:

Garden City (76): Desean Lewis 3-12 4-5 11, Devonte Reed 2-6 2-2 7, Jamir Westry 4-6 4-5 12, Nico Doume 0-2 1-2 1, Mangok Gach 2-4 0-3 4, Zaire Lott 3-8 3-5 11, Xavier Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Lucas Kalimba 4-5 3-6 11, Jordan Nevill 3-11 2-2 9, Michael Solaja 0-0 0-0 0, Tammar Brown 1-1 3-3 5, Christian Smiley 0-0 3-4 3. Totals: 23-56 25-37 76.

Cowley (100): Marcus Smith 2-6 0-0 4, Leslie Owens Jr. 4-8 6-6 15, Kyden Thompson 9-14 5-5 24, Aven Mboule 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Smith 1-4 1-1 3, LJ Britt 3-4 1-1 7, Chase Robinson 1-2 0-0 2, Xavier Vickerstaff 4-9 1-1 10, CJ Majors 3-5 6-6 12, Roman Miller 5-13 6-7 17, Khai Brown 2-4 0-0 6. Totals: 34-71 26-27 100.

Three-pointers: Garden City 5-24 (Lott 2-5, Lewis 1-8, Nevill 1-8, Reed 1-3), Cowley 6-16 (Brown 2-3, Miller 1-4, Vickerstaff 1-4, Owens 1-1, Thompson 1-1, Smith 0-1, Mboule 0-1, Majors 0-1). Rebounds: Garden 32 (Doume 7), Cowley 34 (Miller 8). Assists: Garden 9 (nine players with 1), Cowley 17 (Thompson 6). Turnovers: Garden 15, Cowley 5. Total fouls: Garden 24, Cowley 27. Fouled out: Robinson. Technicals: Lott.