Tigers come out flat, fall 70-57 to Fort Hays Tech Northwest
Playing its final game of the first semester, the No. 16-ranked Cowley College men’s basketball team had its five-game winning streak come to an end with a 70-57 home loss against Fort Hays Tech Northwest on Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
The loss drops Cowley (10-3) into a four-way tie for second place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 5-2. Seward County (6-2) is in first place in the conference after a 130-110 win over Butler on Saturday.
The Tigers are now 8-2 at home after never leading in Saturday's contest.
"We downright did not play well," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We got beat in every facet of the game, and that is disappointing."
Fort Hays Tech scored the first six points of Saturday's game and led 19-8 following a basket by Kaleel Kelly, eight minutes into the game. Cowley shot only 31.3 percent and trailed 35-25 at the end of the first half.
Cowley freshmen Roman Miller and Chase Robinson combined for 23 of the Tigers' 25 first-half points, while the rest of the team combined to make just 1-of-15 shots from the floor.
Trailing 40-29 early in the second half, Cowley would use a 13-2 run to tie the game at 42-42 after a three-pointer by Miller with 13:15 left to play. However, Fort Hays Tech scored 12 of the next 16 points and went on to secure a 13-point road victory.
Fort Hays Tech Northwest is now 7-5 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
Fort Hays Tech had two players record double-doubles in the win as Matija Olasevic finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Marquintez Dixon added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Fort Hays Tech out-rebounded Cowley 40-27.
"Our defense and rebounding have to improve," Jackson said. "We did not play like a team. We usually share the ball extremely well, and against Tech, we did not."
Miller led Cowley with 18 points, but shot just 6-of-18 from the floor. Robinson added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Cowley will use the break to get some players healthy before returning to action on Saturday, January 3, when they play at Garden City at 4 p.m. The Broncbusters, 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference, are led by former Tiger head coach Tommy DeSalme.
"We need to regroup over break," Jackson said. "We have some big-time matchups after the holidays. The league is wide open, and each team can beat or lose to any other team. It's going to be a dog fight."
The box score can be found at https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20251213_7k76.xml.