Tigers open conference play with a 76-58 win at Pratt

Playing its first conference game of the season on Wednesday at Pratt Community College, the Cowley College men's basketball team closed the first half on a 23-3 run and went on to a 76-58 road win.

The Tigers improve to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Pratt falls to 4-3 and 0-1 in conference play.

On Wednesday, Cowley trailed 25-15 with 8:30 remaining in the first half. However, the Tigers closed the half on a 23-3 run and got a basket at the halftime buzzer by sophomore Marcus Zeigler to lead 38-28.

"Marcus (Whitlock Jr.) hit a couple of big shots for us and settled us in when we got down early," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Pratt stormed out of halftime by scoring the first nine points of the second half to pull within 38-37 before Cowley responded with a 15-5 run to build its lead back to 53-42 following a basket by freshman Kyden Thompson with 11:17 remaining.

The Tigers would lead by as many as 20 points (76-56) in the 18-point road win.

"Our defense really tightened up in the second half," Jackson said.

Sophomore Shamarrie Hugie led Cowley with 17 points and eight rebounds, and the Tigers out-shot Pratt 50 percent to 37 percent from the floor.

Cowley got 19 points and 16 rebounds from its bench, while the Tigers' reserves combined to make 10-of-17 shots from the floor.

"Our bench brought a lot of energy and helped fuel our runs in each half," Jackson said.

The Beavers were led by Jarrett Dingle's game-high 24 points,

The Tigers will return home to face Seward County on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Saints are 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference following a 74-69 overtime loss at Cloud County on Wednesday.

"Seward will be one of the more physical teams we have faced," Jackson said. "We will need to play our game in order to give ourselves a chance to win."

Box score:

Cowley (76): Shamarrie Hugie 7-14 1-1 17, Marcus Zeigler 5-12 0-0 11, Kyden Thompson 4-4 0-1 10, Leslie Owens Jr 0-7 4-4 4, Marcus Whitlock Jr 5-8 0-0 12, Emarquis Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Avante Nichols 2-3 0-0 4, Winston Allen 3-7 0-0 7, CJ Majors 3-3 0-0 7, Austin Fortune 2-3 0-0 4, Xavier Alexander 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-62 5-6 76.

Pratt (58): Hunter Vaughn 2-10 0-0 6, Jarrett Dingle 8-15 4-4 24, Khasen Robinson 3-7 1-1 9, Joseph Opareke 3-5 2-6 8, Ajiet Akot 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Jakobe Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Damjan Simun 1-2 0-0 2, Izeyah Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Whisenhunt 0-0 0-0 0, Galvin Luketa 1-7 4-6 7. Totals: 19-51 11-17 58.

Three-pointers: Cowley 9-20 (Hugie 2-5, Whitlock 2-5, Thompson 2-2, Zeigler 1-3, Allen 1-3, Majors 1-1, Alexander 0-1), Pratt 9-28 (Dingle 4-10, Vaughn 2-7, Robinson 2-5, Luketa 1-5, Robinson 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 34 (Hugie, Allen 8), Pratt 27 (Opareke 9). Assists: Cowley 10 (Zeigler, Majors 3), Pratt 8 (Robinson 4). Turnovers: Cowley 13, Pratt 21. Total fouls: Cowley 17, Pratt 13. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Hugie.