Tigers capture the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title with a 76-69 road win

Winning its seventh game in a row, the No. 8-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team clinched sole possession of its first Jayhawk East title since 2021 with a 76-69 victory at Garden City on Saturday.

The Tigers, 25-3 overall, are now 20-2 in the conference. Garden City (15-12) is seventh in the conference with a record of 10-11.

"Clinching the conference title is a great accomplishment, especially in a 24-game format," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "I credit the sophomores for their leadership. We still have more work to do and have other goals on our minds."

On Saturday, Cowley led 30-25 before closing the half on a 13-5 run to take a 43-30 lead into the halftime intermission. The Tigers shot 51.5 percent in the opening half and were led by sophomore point guard Marcus Zeigler's 14 points.

Garden City stormed out of the locker room and out-scored Cowley 20-6 to take a 50-49 lead on a pair of free throws by Josiah Sabino with 13:31 left to play.

Cowley responded by scoring nine straight points to lead 58-50.

The Broncbusters would make one more run at the Tigers, closing within 60-59 on a layup by Boston Harker with 6:41 remaining. Cowley sophomore Shamarrie Hugie followed with a three-point play and the Tigers would not trail again in the seven-point road win.

"Garden City is one of the most talented teams in the league. We feel fortunate to come out with a win."

Zeigler led Cowley with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Hugie added 15 points and four boards.

"We faced some adversity in the second half, but Marcus Ziegler calmed the team down, and Slim (Hugie) stepped up and made some big plays for us down the stretch," Jackson said.

Dallas Whitney (10 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and Avante Nichols (10 points, seven rebounds) helped Cowley out-rebound Garden City 34-26.

Antonio Chol led Garden City with 17 points in the loss.

Cowley will attempt to continue its winning streak when they host Cloud County on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the team's Homecoming game. The T-Birds are only 11-16 overall and 5-16 in the conference.

"Cloud is a tough match-up for us," Jackson said. "They have one of the better big men in the league and good guard play. They really shoot the three ball, so we will need to be ready to defend."

Box score:

Cowley (76): Shamarrie Hugie 5-10 4-4 15, Emarquis Jones 5-8 0-0 12, Marcus Zeigler 7-14 2-3 18, Dallas Whitney 3-5 2-2 8, Marcus Whitlock Jr. 4-11 0-0 9, Avante Nichols 4-6 2-2 10, Winston Allen 0-2 2-5 2, CJ Majors 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 29-61 12-16 76.

Garden City (68): Emmanuel Manyuon 3-13 4-4 12, Boston Harker 3-8 5-6 11, Antonio Chol 6-11 3-7 17, Isaiah Dixon 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Steinmetz 2-5 0-0 6, Josiah Sabino 4-6 4-6 12, Finn Eriksson 2-5 3-3 8, Dasean Lewis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 21-50 19-26 69.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-14 (Zeigler 2-3, Jones 2-2, Hugie 1-2, Whitlock 1-4, Majors 0-2, Whitney 0-1), Garden 7-24 (Manyuon 2-7, Chol 2-6, Steinmetz 2-5, Eriksson 1-4, Harker 0-1, Sabino 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 34 (Whitney, Dallas 7), Garden 26 (Sabino 9). Assists: Cowley 17 (Whitney 6), Garden 15 (Harker 7). Turnovers: Cowley 12, Garden 14. Total fouls: Cowley 18, Garden 11. Fouled out: Manyuon. Technicals: Sabino.