Tigers earn victory No. 20, advance to semifinals with 76-69 win at Dodge City
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the No. 6-seed Cowley College men’s basketball team put on the clamps defensively and advanced to the District Plains Tournament Semifinals with a 76-69 win at No. 3-seed Dodge City on Tuesday.
The Tigers advance to face second-seed Butler Community College on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Great Bend, KS.
With the win, Cowley improves its record to 20-12 on the season as the Tigers reached the 20-win plateau for the third straight season. Dodge City finishes the year with a record of 20-11.
Trailing 33-23, Cowley closed the first half on an 18-8 run to head into halftime tied at 41-41.
Sophomore Leslie Owens scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half, and Xavier Vickerstaff hit both of his three-point attempts as Cowley made 5-of-8 shots from beyond the arc.
"In the first half, we had to hang in there," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "Dodge was playing with high energy, and we were fortunate to be tied at halftime. Xavier and Leslie kept us in the game early on."
The Tigers never trailed in the second half, with it holding a double-digit lead from the 14-minute mark until a pair of Derrick Rivers' free throws cut Cowley's lead to 73-65 with 3:06 left to play.
Dodge City would pull within 73-69 following a basket by Ricky Loftin II with 35 seconds remaining. However, Cowley freshman Roman Miller hit 3-of-4 free throws in the Tigers' next two possessions as Cowley held on for the seven-point road win.
Miller came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.
"Our second unit won us the game in the second half," Jackson said. " They gave us some much-needed energy, and they were key in pushing out to a 13-point lead (71-58)."
Cowley held Dodge City to 31 percent shooting in the second half, and the Conquistadors made only 3-of-21 three-point attempts.
"It's survive and advance season, and that's exactly what we did," Jackson said.
Vickerstaff continued his strong play by going 5-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points. Fellow freshman Chase Robinson added 12 points in 15 minutes.
Brad Johnson's 15 points led the Conquistadors. Derrick Rivers added 10 points but shot only 2-of-18 from the floor.
Cowley will next face a Butler team that defeated the Tigers in both regular-season matchups. The Grizzlies have won three games in a row and are 22-9 following a 101-87 victory over 10th-seed Fort Hays Tech Northwest.
"We will have our hands full with Butler," Jackson said. "They can shoot the cover off the ball. We will need to play our best game."
Box score:
Cowley (76): Marcus Smith 3-10 0-2 6, CJ Majors 0-6 0-0 0, Xavier Vickerstaff 5-7 0-0 13, Leslie Owens 6-13 2-2 15, Kyden Thompson 1-6 0-0 2, Chase Robinson 5-6 2-2 12, LJ Britt 2-3 2-2 7, Jordan Smith 1-7 0-0 2, Roman Miller 7-9 3-5 19, Khai Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Aven Mboule 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-67 9-13 76.
Dodge City (69): Rickey Loftin 6-12 0-0 12, Derrick Rivers 2-18 5-5 10, Brad Johnson 7-14 0-0 15, Wesly Rosa 3-3 0-2 6, Andrew Mabry 0-4 0-2 0, Jayvion Nurse 4-9 1-2 10, Richard Rojas 3-7 4-5 10, Koch-Deng Koch 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Brockett 3-5 0-0 6. Totals: 28-72 10-16 69.
Three-pointers: Cowley 7-15 (Vickerstaff 3-3. Miller 2-3, Owens 1-3, Britt 1-1, Smith 0-2, Majors 0-2, Thompson 0-1), Dodge 3-21 (Rivers 1-8, Johnson 1-7, Nurse 1-4, Loftin 0-1, Mabry 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 36 (Thompson 7), Dodge 38 (Johnson 8). Assists: Cowley 11 (Thompson 4), Dodge 9 (Rivers 3). Turnovers: Cowley 17, Dodge 12. Total fouls: Cowley 15, Dodge 13. Technicals: none.