Tigers snap skid with 86-74 win over Independence

The victory moves Cowley (11-5) into a tie with Coffeyville at 6-4 in the Jayhawk Conference, one game behind Independence (9-6) and three other teams tied at 7-3.

Trailing Saturday's game 13-11, Cowley would use a 10-0 run to lead 21-13.

Cowley out-shot Indy 55.2 percent to 38.2 percent in the opening half, yet led only 39-33 after the first 20 minutes of play.

The Tigers stormed out of halftime with a 13-2 run to lead 52-35.

"When we are flying around and pressuring the ball, I think we are one of the better teams in the conference," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.

With its lead trimmed to 72-60 with 5:25 remaining and the shot clock winding down, Cowley's Roman Miller buried a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to help stabilize things, and the Tigers went on to the 12-point win.

"We played more together and with more urgency than we have been," Jackson said. "We were locked in and did a good job of improving things we have been working on."

Tiger freshman Marcus Smith led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor and 9-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line.

"Marcus picked and chose his spots really well and was very efficient," Jackson said.

Cowley shot 52.5 percent from the floor as Miller added 16 points, while Leslie Owens Jr. (15 points) and LJ Britt (11 points) also scored in double figures.

"LJ is our glue guy and provides us with an element of toughness," Jackson said. "He always plays hard, so I was happy to see LJ have a lot of success against Indy."

Independence was led by Trae Lewis' 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Cowley will have another opportunity to catch a team ahead of them in the conference standings when they face Seward County on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Saints are 12-4 overall and 7-3 in the conference.

"Seward is the best defensive team in our league and will be extremely physical," Jackson said. "We are one game from first place in the conference and two games from 11^th, so the message to our players is we have to protect our home court."

Box score:

Indy (74): David Wilson 4-9 4-4 13, Trae Lewis 5-14 1-2 14, Sterling Knox 5-10 1-1 11, Trashaun Combs-Pierce 2-5 2-2 6, Fortune Anslem-Ibe 4-5 2-2 10, Zion Dixon 3-5 0-1 6, Khari Bryan 0-1 0-0 0, Xavier Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Sekou Kourouma 3-7 0-0 6, Diezel Davis 0-0 0-0 0, BJ Randle 0-0 0-0 0, Colt Hightower 0-0 0-0 0, Will Lobor 0-0 0-0 0, Lonnie Bass Jr. 3-3 2-3 8. Totals: 29-61 12-15 74.

Cowley (86): Marcus Smith 8-13 9-12 27, Leslie Owens 6-8 2-2 15, Kyden Thompson 3-5 0-0 6, Jordan Smith 0-2 2-2 2, Roman Miller 6-11 2-2 16, LJ Britt 4-7 2-2 11, Chase Robinson 2-5 0-2 4, Xavier Vickerstaff 2-6 0-0 4, Jaxon Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Khai Brown 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 31-59 18-24 86.

Three-pointers: Indy 4-11 (Lewis 3-8, Wilson 1-1, Combs-Pierce 0-1, Kourouma 0-1), Cowley 6-18 (Miller 2-5, Smith 2-3, Britt 1-3, Owens 1-2, Vickerstaff 0-3, Jones 0-2). Rebounds: Indy 31 (Bass 9), Cowley 30 (Smith, Robinson 5). Assists: Indy 5 (Knox, Combs-Pierce), Cowley 12 (Thompson 5). Turnovers: Indy 20, Cowley 12. Total fouls: Indy 14, Cowley 14. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.