Tigers turn up the defensive pressure in an 88-69 win over Seward

Forcing a season-high 30 turnovers, the Cowley College men's basketball team pulled away from the visiting Seward County Saints for an 88-69 home win on Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley improves to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Seward (1-6) falls to 0-2.

Saturday's game was back and forth for most of the first half, as the Tigers went into halftime with a slim 43-41 advantage.

Cowley sophomores Shamarrie Hugie and Marcus Zeigler led the Tigers with 11 first-half points.

Leading 53-46, Cowley would hold Seward County scoreless for more than five minutes as they used a 15-0 run to blow the game open.

"I loved our tempo," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We played really fast and were aggressive."

The Tigers forced the Saints into 21 second-half turnovers, and Hugie scored 17 of his game-high 28 points after intermission. Hugie is averaging 19.3 points and 6.3 rebounds through the team's first eight games.

"Shamarrie has been playing at a high level," Jackson said. "We have got to keep him locked in."

Zeigler added 14 points, four rebounds, and four steals, while freshman Emarquis Jones came off the bench to finish with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.

Trayon Grant-Foster led Seward with 18 points and six assists in the defeat.

Cowley is one of four teams in the conference to start with a 2-0 record. The Tigers will attempt to remain unbeaten in conference play when they host Dodge City (4-4) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Conquistadors are 1-1

"Dodge City has exceptional guard play, so we will need to be ready for the challenge," Jackson said.

Box score:

Seward (69): Kiku Parker 3-4 3-4 9, Carson Bennett 2-6 1-3 7, Taky Prosper 2-3 0-0 4, Benni Kazadi 6-9 0-0 13, Muhammed Jobe 1-1 1-2 3, Kalen Streit 0-1 0-0 0, Loic Affoumon 0-0 0-0 0, Dekwon Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Trayon Grant-Foster 7-9 3-6 18, Deven Butler 3-8 0-0 8, Lovasoa Andriatsarafara 1-1 3-4 5. Totals: 26-48 11-19 69.

Cowley (88): Shamarrie Hugie 10-14 7-8 28, Marcus Zeigler 4-11 4-5 14, Kyden Thompson 2-3 2-2 7, Leslie Owens Jr 0-0 1-2 1, Marcus Whitlock Jr 3-11 1-2 9, Emarquis Jones 4-5 2-3 10, Avante Nichols 1-3 4-4 6, Winston Allen 4-9 0-3 8, CJ Majors 0-2 0-0 0, Austin Fortune 0-2 2-2 2, Xavier Alexander 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 29-62 23-31 88.

Three-pointers: Seward 6-16 (Butler 2-5, Bennett 2-4, Kazadi 1-1, Grant-Foster 1-1, Brown 0-2, Streit 0-1, Prosper 0-1), Cowley 7-23 (Whitlock 2-8, Zeigler 2-3, Hugie 1-4, Thompson 1-2, Alexander 1-2, Allen 0-2, Majors 0-2). Rebounds: Seward 35 (Kazadi 8), Cowley 24 (Allen 5). Assists: Seward 8 (Grant-Foster 6), Cowley 15 (Thompson 7). Turnovers: Seward 30, Cowley 13. Total fouls: Seward 22, Cowley 17. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Butler.