Seward comes from behind to defeat Cowley 79-66

Seward and Cowley are now tied at 18-11 overall and in fifth place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 13-10.

On Saturday, Cowley held the lead from the 17-minute mark of the opening half until exactly four minutes remaining when Seward's Brooks Powers hit a pair of free throws to give the Saints a 63-62 lead.

The Tigers trailed only 67-66 following a free-throw by Leslie Owens Jr. with 2:19 remaining, but failed to make any of its final six shots from the floor while falling 79-66.

"We played a good game for 36 minutes, but unfortunately, we need to play a full 40," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Seward shot 66.7 percent in the second half (14-of-21), while Cowley shot only 28 percent (7-of-25).

"The second half was a struggle to make shots, and we missed some key free throws and layups down the stretch," Jackson said.

Marcus Smith led Cowley with 13 points, but played only 24 minutes before fouling out. Owens added 12 points, but the trio of Kyden Thompson, Xavier Vickerstaff, and Roman Miller combined to make only 3-of-21 shots from the floor.

RJ McKinnie went 6-of-7 from the floor and led Seward with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Cowley lost an overtime game to Seward on January 14 in Ark City, so the Saints hold the tiebreaker if the teams finish tied in the conference standings.

The Tigers will return home to face conference co-leader Barton County on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the team's final regular-season contest. The Cougars, winners of nine games in a row, are 21-8 overall and 16-7 in the Jayhawk Conference. Barton County, which is tied with Butler, needs to win to gain at least a share of the conference title.

"It will be a big night on Wednesday with it being sophomore night and our last regular-season home game," Jackson said. "Barton is on a heater, and it will take a full team effort if we want to beat them."

Box score: https://kjccc.org/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20260228_ds6v.xml