Tigers let late lead slip away in 84-81 road defeat

The loss, the fifth in the last six games for the Tigers, drops Cowley's record to 11-7 overall and 6-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Tigers and Barton (11-7) are now in a five-way tie for sixth place in the conference.

Cowley got off to a slow start in Saturday's contest, trailing 17-7 after six minutes of action before rallying to go in front before heading into halftime down 40-38.

"We can't put ourselves in holes to begin the game on the road," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "The conference is too tough to do that."

After a back-and-forth second half, Cowley would go on to lead by as many as eight points (69-61) following a basket by Roman Miller with 7:18 remaining.

However, the Cougars would score 10 straight points to go back in front.

Trailing 83-78 with eight seconds left, Cowley got a three-pointer from freshman LJ Britt to pull within 83-81.

Forced to foul, the Tigers sent Barton's Blake Rucker to the free-throw line with four seconds left. Rucker made 1-of-2 foul shots to extend the Cougars' lead to 84-81 before Cowley had one last shot to tie the game.

Marcus Smith managed to get a final shot off, but it was off the mark as time expired.

"We came up just short at the end," Jackson said. "We battled hard all night long. But so did Barton, and unfortunately for us, we fell just a bit short."

Barton made a living at the free-throw line, going 30-of-36 from the charity stripe, including making 19-of-22 from the line in the second half. The Cougars also out-rebounded Cowley 42-26, with Sebastian Muchitsch (19 points, 15 rebounds) and Noah William (14 points, 10 rebounds) recording double-doubles.

Barton's Aris Rodriguez led all scorers with 23 points and six assists.

Cowley had four players score in double figures and was led by Roman Miller's 16 points and six rebounds. Leslie Owens added 14 points, while Kyden Thompson and Marcus Smith chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

"We are so close to breaking down some of the walls we have been struggling with, but we didn't quite find a way to get it done," Jackson said. "We are going to keep working to get better. I believe in our guys."

Cowley will hope that being back at home will help when they host conference-leading Dodge City on Sunday at 3 p.m. The No. 21-ranked Conquistadors are 13-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference. Derrick Rivers leads Dodge City with an average of 21.5 points per game.

"Dodge City will be a handful on Sunday," Jackson said. "We need a great week of practice."

Box score:

Cowley (81): Marcus Smith 2-10 6-8 11, Leslie Owens Jr. 5-10 4-6 14, Kyden Thompson 3-6 5-6 12, Xavier Vickerstaff 2-3 0-0 6, Roman Miller 6-13 2-3 16, LJ Britt 1-2 1-2 4, Chase Robinson 2-4 3-5 7, Jaxson Jones 1-3 0-0 3, Jordan Smith 4-7 0-0 8, Khai Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-59 21-30 81.

Barton (86): Sebastian Muchitsch 5-9 9-10 19, Jon Byrd 0-1 0-0 0, Majok Chuol 4-5 4-5 12, Noah Williams 4-11 4-5 14, Aris Rodriguez 8-16 6-6 23, Jayden Ramirez 1-3 3-4 6, Lazare Mbala 0-2 0-0 0, Mikey Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Sullivan Jr. 0-1 3-4 3, Blake Rucker 2-3 1-2 7, Pavel Ivanov 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-52 30-36 84.

Three-pointers: Cowley 8-21 (Miller 2-6, Vickerstaff 2-3, Smith 1-5, Thompson 1-2, Jones 1-2, Britt 1-1, Robinson 0-1, Brown 0-1), Barton 6-14 (Williams 2-4, Rucker 2-3, Rodriguez 1-4, Ramirez 1-1, Muchitsch 0-1, Mbala 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 26 (Miller 6), Barton 42 (Muchitsch 15). Assists: Cowley 12 (Britt 3), Barton 12 (Rodriguez 6). Turnovers: Cowley 9, Barton 16. Total fouls: Cowley 26, Barton 21. Fouled out: Vickerstaff. Technicals: none.