Butler damages Cowley’s conference title hopes with 106-94 road win

The loss drops the Tigers (17-10) three games behind Butler for the conference lead with only three conference games remaining. The Grizzlies (19-8) remain one-half game ahead of Barton County for first place in the Jayhawk Conference, with a 15-6 record.

Facing former Cowley College assistant coach Eric Nitsche, who is now the head man in charge at Butler, the Tigers allowed 58 first-half points and trailed by 19 after 20 minutes of play.

Cowley came out of the halftime intermission by scoring eight straight points and trailed only 69-61 following a three-point play by Chase Robinson with 10:22 left to play.

Butler's lead would remain within eight to 13 points before Roman Miller's basket with 2:30 left pulled Cowley within 94-87. However, that would be as close as the Tigers would get, as the Grizzlies made 7 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes and finished 32 of 44 from the foul line.

Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson pointed to his team's 25 turnovers as a major reason why the Grizzlies were able to defeat the Tigers for the second time this season.

"You have got to value the basketball in a game this fast-paced," Jackson said. "We had chances, but you have got to play all 40 minutes."

Kyden Thompson scored a career-high 25 points in the loss. The sophomore from McPherson went 8-of-11 from the floor and added seven assists and five rebounds. Thompson has set a career-high in points in back-to-back games and has scored 49 points in the past two games.

"Kyden is trending in the right direction, and we need others to follow," Jackson said.

Roman Miller added 16 points, while Chase Robinson finished with 11.

Xavier Brown led six Butler players in double figures with 21 points.

Cowley, tied for fourth place in the conference with Coffeyville, Garden City, Independence, and Seward, will play at Indy on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before playing at Seward on Saturday at 4 p.m.

"We have a monster week ahead with each of the teams playing for seeding in the conference tournament," Jackson said. "These are must-win games, so we need to be ready to go."

Box score:

Butler (106): Josiah Kirkwood 4-11 3-5 13, Tim Walker 3-8 4-4 10, Devin Kerr 5-11 5-6 15, Aiven Riley 2-4 1-2 7, Jaise Combs 3-6 2-2 11, Xavier Brown 6-12 7-12 21, Amare Jones 0-0 3-4 3, Dominic Pleasants 1-3 7-8 9, Cory Muehler 0-2 0-0 0, Odie Williams 3-8 0-0 7, AJ Pierre-Jerome 5-6 0-1 10. Totals: 32-71 32-44 106.

Cowley (94): Marcus Smith 3-7 2-2 10, Leslie Owens Jr. 2-4 3-4 7, Kyden Thompson 8-11 9-14 25, CJ Majors 2-9 3-4 7, Roman Miller 5-13 4-6 16, LJ Britt 2-6 0-1 4, Chase Robinson 4-6 3-3 11, Xavier Vickerstaff 0-3 1-2 1, Aven Mboule 3-7 0-0 8, Jordan Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Khai Brown 2-7 0-0 5. Totals: 31-74 25-36 94.

Three-pointers: Butler 10-26 (Combs 3-5, Kirkwood 2-4, Brown 2-4, Riley 2-3, Williams 1-6, Walker 0-2, Kerr 0-1, Pleasants 0-1), Cowley 7-24 (Miller 2-7, Mboule 2-5, Smith 2-3, Brown 1-4, Vickerstaff 0-3, Thompson 0-1, Majors 0-1). Rebounds: Butler 47 (Combs 8), Cowley 42 (Majors, Britt 10). Assists: Butler 16 (Walker 6), Cowley 21 (Thompson 7). Turnovers: Butler 22, Cowley 25. Total fouls: Butler 25, Cowley 27. Fouled out: Kirkwood, Pierre-Jerome, Smith. Technicals: none.