Doume’s free-throw with one second left lifts Garden City to an 83-82 win over Cowley
Facing former Cowley College head men’s basketball coach Tommy DeSalme, the all-time wins leader in the history of the program, on Saturday in Garden City, the Tigers got 33 points from freshman Marcus Smith, but it was not enough as the Broncbusters’ Nico Coume made the game-winning free throw with 1 second left to lift Garden City to the 83-82 victory.
Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson was an assistant of DeSalme's for 11 seasons and knew Saturday's contest would be a tight one.
After falling behind by as many as 12 points (35-23), the Tigers pulled within 44-37 at the end of the first half.
Smith had 16 first-half points on 7-of-11 shooting, while the rest of the Tigers combined for 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
Garden City's Dasean Lewis was equally effective in the opening half, scoring 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Cowley trailed by as many as 13 points (58-45) in the second half following a basket by Lucas Kalimba before starting its comeback.
Fouled on a three-point attempt, Smith drained all three free throws to give Cowley its first lead of the second half at 75-73 with 3:22 left to play.
Smith would again give the Tigers a two-point lead (82-80) after going 1-of-2 from the foul line with 17 seconds remaining. However, after a miss of the second free throw, Garden City's Nico Doume was fouled on the rebound. Doume made both free throws to tie the game with 15.8 seconds left.
With a chance to win in regulation, Smith had the ball poked away from him and fouled Doume while trying to get the loose ball with only one second showing on the clock. Doume went on to make 1-of-2 foul shots as the Broncbusters held on for the 83-82 win.
"We did a good job of not quitting and gave ourselves a chance to win," Jackson said. "Unfortunately, the last 17 seconds are pretty unforgettable. We need to learn from this and also move on from it."
Smith led all scorers with his 33 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the floor and 9-of-15 shooting from the charity stripe.
"Marcus carried us all night long, making big play after big play. Unfortunately, the magic ran out at the end," Jackson said.
The loss was the second in a row for the Tigers, who are now 10-4 overall and 5-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley is one game behind conference co-leaders Dodge City and Independence. Garden City (10-4) moves into a tie with Cowley and Butler with a record of 5-3 in the conference.
Roman Miller joined Smith in double figures with 12 points, while freshman post player Jordan Smith returned to the lineup after missing the past nine games due to injury.
Both teams shot 44 percent from the floor, but Garden City out-rebounded Cowley 41-30. Lewis' 25 points led the Broncbusters on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while Kalimba added 15 points and nine rebounds. The duo combined to score 40 points on 15-of-20 shooting.
"Dasean Lewis set the tone for them early, and both of them had career nights against us," Jackson said.
Jackson and the Tigers will face another familiar face on Wednesday when Cowley will travel to El Dorado to take on Eric Nitsche and the Butler Grizzlies (9-5) at 7:30 p.m. Nitsche was an assistant at Cowley for seven seasons before coaching at Hutchinson Community College and now Butler. The Grizzlies are averaging 109 points per game.
"Butler is one of the best, if not the best, shooting teams in the country," Jackson said. "They will play even faster than Garden City, and Butler has proven to be a tough place for us to win over the past couple of years. We will need to guard the three-ball and take care of the basketball."
Box score:
Cowley (82): Marcus Smith 12-21 9-15 33, Leslie Owens 3-7 2-2 8, Chase Robinson 1-6 2-2 4, Kyden Thompson 1-2 2-2 4, Khai Brown 2-4 0-0 5, LJ Britt 1-1 2-2 5, Xavier Vickerstaff 0-5 0-2 0, Jaxson Jones 1-2 5-6 8, Aven Mboule 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Smith 1-1 1-2 3, Roman Miller 4-9 3-3 12. Totals: 26-59 26-36 82.
Garden City (83): Dasean Lewis 9-12 2-2 25, Devonte Reed 3-6 3-4 9, Lucas Kalimba 6-8 3-4 15, Nico Doume 2-4 3-4 7, Tammar Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Zaire Lott 1-8 2-4 4, Xavier Johnson 1-8 1-2 3, Jamir Westry 4-9 4-5 12, Michael Solaja 1-4 0-0 3, Mangok Goch 0-1 2-2 2, Christian Smiley 1-3 1-1 3. Totals: 28-63 21-28 83.
Three-pointers: Cowley 4-17 (Miller 1-4, Brown 1-2, Britt 1-1, Jones 1-1, Smith 0-4, Vickerstaff 0-4, Mboule 0-1), Garden City 6-24 (Lewis 5-7, Solaja 1-2, Lott 0-5, Reed 0-3, Johnson 0-2, Westry 0-2, Smiley 0-2, Kalimba 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 30 (Owens 6), Garden City 41 (Kalimba 9). Assists: Cowley 11 (Thompson 4), Garden City 15 (Reed, Westry 4). Turnovers: Cowley 12, Garden City 20. Total fouls: Cowley 24, Garden City 25. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.