Tigers’ late rally comes up short in 78-75 loss at Dodge City
The No. 10-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit before having a game-tying three-pointer come up short at the end of regulation in a 78-75 loss at Dodge City on Saturday.
Cowley has dropped two games in a row to fall to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. Dodge City is now 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Dodge City made a living at the free-throw line (21-of-23) in the opening half of Saturday's game as guard Derrick Rivers went 16-of-16 from the foul line in the opening half and led the Tigers by a score of 37-32 at the end of the first half.
The Tigers trailed 66-57 following a three-pointer by Brad Johnson with 6:57 left to play, but rallied to tie the game at 70-70 on a three-pointer by Roman Miller with 3:22 remaining.
Trailing 76-74 with only eight seconds left, Cowley sophomore Leslie Owens was sent to the free-throw line for two shots. Owens missed the first and made the second to pull the Tigers within 76-75.
Forced to foul, the Tigers had no choice but to foul Rivers after he received the inbounds pass. Rivers made both free throws to increase the Conquistadors' lead to 78-75.
With one final chance to force overtime, Kyden Thompson's three-pointer at the buzzer came up just short, as did the Tigers' chance at opening conference play with a road win.
"We battled some adversity on the road and gave ourselves a chance, we just didn't make the one or two big plays we needed to when we had an opportunity," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.
Rivers finished 20-of-20 from the foul line and scored a game-high 31 points. Johnson added 22 points while going 5-of-11 from three-point range.
"Despite some hot shooting from Dodge and some foul trouble, we were in position to win," Jackson said. "We need to start valuing the ball more, and more importantly, we have to start making shots again. Otherwise, we will be fighting uphill battles in games."
Roman Miller came off the Tigers' bench to lead Cowley with 24 points, while sophomore Leslie Owens added 21 points and eight rebounds.
Cowley shot just 36.4 percent (24-of-66) from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-28).
The Tigers will look to bounce back when they host Cloud County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The T-birds are 6-2 and 1-1 in the conference following a 78-76 home loss to Barton on Saturday.
"We did not take care of business on the road, and we have to find a way to protect home court on Tuesday," Jackson said. "Cloud is extremely physical, and they can bully you if you're not ready for it. We will need to play a full 40-minute game in order to have a chance."
Box score:
Cowley (75): CJ Majors 2-4 0-1 4, Marcus Smith 0-6 4-4 4, Kyden Thompson 3-6 2-2 8, Xavier Vickerstaff 5-16 0-0 12, Leslie Owens 6-14 8-10 21, Jaxson Jones 1-3 0-0 2, LJ Britt 0-1 0-0 0, Khai Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Roman Miller 7-12 6-9 24, Aven Mboule 0-1 0-0 0, Chase Robinson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 24-66 20-26 75.
Dodge City (78): Rickey Loftin 4-7 0-0 10, Jordan Russell 2-5 1-2 5, Derrick Rivers 5-10 20-20 31, Wesly Rosa 1-2 2-2 4, Brad Johnson 7-19 3-4 22, Andrew Mabry 0-2 0-0 0, Richard Rojas 0-1 0-2 0, Christian Brockett 0-3 0-0 0, Justin Houston 3-3 0-1 6, Jayvion Nurse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-53 26-31 78.
Three-pointers: Cowley 7-28 (Miller 4-7, Vickerstaff 2-10, Owens 1-2, Smith 0-2, Thompson 0-2, Majors 0-1, Jones 0-1, Brown 0-1, Mboule 0-1, Robinson 0-1), Dodge City 8-21 (Johnson 5-11, Loftin 2-3, Rivers 1-4, Mabry 0-2, Nurse 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 37 (Owens 8), 36 (Rivers 8). Assists: Cowley 15 (Thompson 6), Dodge City 14 (Brockett 4). Turnovers: Cowley 15, Dodge City 19. Total fouls: Cowley 24, Dodge City 24. Fouled out: Majors. Technicals: none.