Cowley suffers a 100-75 loss at Dodge City

The No. 5-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team had its five-game winning streak end with a 100-75 loss at Dodge City on Wednesday. The loss drops the Tigers into a first place tie with Coffeyville atop the Jayhawk Conference.

Cowley is now 17-3 overall and 13-2 in the conference, while Dodge City (8-13) improved to 5-10 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Dodge City raced out to a 10-3 and never trailed while building a 37-28 halftime lead.

A three-point play by freshman Emarquis Jones pulled Cowley within 48-45 with 14:23 remaining and the Tigers were still within striking distance of Dodge City (67-58) with nine minutes left, but that would be as close as Cowley would get in the 25-point road loss.

"The bottom line is Dodge City was better than us tonight," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

Marcus Whitlock Jr. led Cowley with 20 points and went 4-of-10 from three-point range. However, the rest of the Tigers combined to go 0-of-11 from beyond the arc, as Cowley shot only 32.9 percent from the floor.

Derrick Rivers hit four of Dodge City's 11 three-pointers and finished with a game-high 28 points, while Keshawn Brown Jr. went 14-of-17 from the foul line and added 24 points.

Dodge City went 33-of-43 from the free-throw line, and Cowley made 25 of 36 free-throw attempts as the teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls.

Cowley sophomores Dallas Whitney and Shamarrie Hugie added 17 and 16 points, respectively, but combined to shoot only 9-of-28 from the floor.

The Tigers will return home to face defending national champion Barton County on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Cougars (17-4) have won four games in a row to improve to 11-4 in the Jayhawk Conference.

"We have to shift our focus quickly to Barton," Jackson said. "They have been playing really well. We need to hit the reset button on the Dodge City game and find a way to bounce back at home."

Before Saturday's game, the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will be honored.

Box score:

Cowley (75): Avante Nichols 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Zeigler 3-10 2-3 8, CJ Majors 1-3 0-0 2, Marcus Whitlock Jr. 8-16 0-0 20, Teagan Charles 0-1 0-0 0, Shamarrie Hugie 4-14 8-11 16, Emarquis Jones 1-5 2-3 4, Dallas Whitney 5-14 7-9 17, Kyden Thompson 1-4 6-10 8, Xavier Alexander 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-70 25-36 75.

Dodge City (100): Jamari Gamble 2-4 0-0 5, Jayse Boatwright 6-10 4-4 16, Derrick Rivers 8-17 8-10 28, Mynor Strong 6-14 4-6 20, Wesly Rosa 1-3 0-0 2, Keshawn Brown Jr. 4-7 14-17 24, Kejaun Payne 0-2 1-2 1, Koch-Deng Koch 0-0 1-2 1, Daouda Cisee 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 28-59 33-43 100.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-21 (Whitlock 4-10, Whitney 0-4, Zeigler 0-3, Hugie 0-2, Alexander 0-2), Dodge City 11-23 (Rivers 4-9, Strong 4-7, Brown 2-4, Gamble 1-1, Boatwright 0-1, Payne 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 34 (Whitney 7), Dodge City 42 (Deng Koch 8). Assists: Cowley 10 (Zeigler, Thompson 3), Dodge City 16 (Rivers 5). Turnovers: Cowley 15, Dodge City 17. Total fouls: Cowley 25, Dodge City 29. Fouled out: Whitlock. Technicals: Whitlock.