Seward rallies to hand Tigers a rare home defeat, 91-83 in overtime

The victory keeps Seward (13-4) tied with Dodge City atop the Jayhawk Conference standings at 8-3, while the Tigers fall to 11-6 overall and a tie for sixth place in the conference with a record of 6-5.

Cowley started fast, racing out to an 8-0 lead, and led 27-14 following a three-pointer by Marcus Smith with 10:35 left in the first half. The Tigers would go into halftime with a 45-35 lead after shooting 53.3 percent from the floor.

"We had great energy to start the game and played with great pace and urgency," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said.  

Cowley would lead by as many as 11 points (56-45) after a three-pointer by Roman Miller before the Saints started their comeback.

Seward took its first lead at 67-65 on a basket by RJ McKinnie with 6:10 remaining in regulation and led 74-70 before the Tigers rallied to tie it at 74-74.

Neither team scored in the final two minutes of the second half, and the game went to overtime.

Cowley trailed by only one point, 80-79, before Seward scored the next nine points and went on to the 91-83 road win.

"We've got to find a way to close out close games," Jackson said. "We had our chances. If we don't start making open threes, it will be tough to win down the stretch."

Seward out-scored Cowley by 17 points at the free-throw line, going 36-of-47 from the charity stripe. The Saints RJ McKinnie (24 points) and Antonio Williams Jr. (19 points) combined to go 23-of-28 from the free-throw line and score 43 points.

Seward also did damage in the paint, outscoring Cowley 20-8 on second chance points.

"We got beat in every tough guy category," Jackson said. "They were more physical when the game slowed down, and they capitalized on every missed shot with an offensive rebound stick back. That all comes down to effort."

Marcus Smith led Cowley with 28 points, but went just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. Roman Miller added 22 points while going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Cowley will face another team that is only separated by one game in the conference standings when they play at Barton on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars are 10-7 overall and 5-6 in the conference.

"We aren't far off from being where we need to be, but that's a double-edged sword, because we aren't there yet, and we have to keep working," Jackson said.

Box score:

Seward (91): Awit Mamer 3-5 4-6 11, RJ McKinnie 5-11 13-16 24, Lucas N'Gombo 5-7 6-9 16, Brevyn Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Milligan 0-3 0-0 0, Yanceeh Fleret 1-4 0-0 2, Korbin Dowdell 3-8 3-4 9, Quincey Kidd 2-3 0-0 6, JJ Chapman 0-1 0-0 0, Antonio Williams Jr. 4-16 10-12 19, Brooks Powers 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 25-62 36-47 91.

Cowley (83): Marcus Smith 9-23 9-13 28, Leslie Owens Jr. 3-6 5-8 11, Kyden Thompson 3-6 1-1 7, Jordan Smith 2-2 0-0 4, Roman Miller 7-15 4-6 22, LJ Britt 1-2 0-0 2, Chase Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Xavier Vickerstaff 2-5 0-0 5, Jaxson Jones 2-4 0-0 4, Khai Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-65 19-28 83.

Three-pointers: Seward 5-18 (Kidd 2-3, Williams 1-6, McKinnie 1-4, Mamer 1-3, Milligan 0-1, Dowdell 0-1), Cowley 6-29 (Miller 4-9, Smith 1-10, Vickertstaff 1-4, Thompson 0-2, Owens 0-1, Britt 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Jones 0-1). Rebounds: Seward 35 (N'Gombo 9), Cowley 34 (Miller 7). Assists: Seward 7 (McKinnie 3), Cowley 15 (Thompson 7). Turnovers: Seward 12, Cowley 18. Total fouls: Seward 22, Cowley 29. Fouled out: Owens. Technicals: Smith, McKinnie.