The March madness moto is "Survive and Advance".   That is exactly what the #5 seeded Coffeyville Community College Red Raven men's basketball team did in a 92-79 victory over the #4 seeded Barton Cougars in the Region VI Tournament Quarterfinals.  With the win, the Ravens improve their overall record to 24-8 and will continue on to the Region VI semifinals where they will play the #1 seeded Cowley Tigers.

The Ravens put the pressure on the Cougars right from the start.  Freshman guard Tylor Perry started the game off with a made 3 pointer which was then followed by sophomore guard Tony Hutson also drilling a 3 pointer and just like that, the Ravens were off and going. 

Coffeyville shot a sizzling 55% (20-36) in the first half compared to 36% (12/33) for Barton.  With that hot shooting, the Ravens were able to build a solid 48-33 halftime lead.  Barton did try and make a run with better shooting in the second half (56%) but Coffeyville actually shot better as well in the second half (60%!) to help keep the Cougars at bay.  Barton was able to get the score down to within single digits with about 3:00 to go in the second half, but Coffeyville finished the game strong and earned the 13 point 92-79 victory.

When asked about the game, head Red Raven coach Jay Herkelman said "Our guys did a great job the whole first half tonight on both ends of the floor.  I thought we were really good defending their actions and then rebounding their first miss.  Our pace offensively was really good all night."

Speaking of the Ravens offense, five players scored in double figures.  Sophomore Meikel Murray led the way with a strong stat line of 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.  The aforementioned guard duo of Tylor Perry and Tony Hutson each posted 17 points.  Raven sophomore big man Kymani Dunham pitched in 13 points and 6 rebounds and freshman Larry White had 11 points and a sensational 6 steals.

Coffeyville moves on in the tournament to play the #1 seed (and this year's East Conference Champion) Cowley Tigers.  Coffeyville and Cowley are no strangers.  The Ravens played the Tigers a couple of times during the regular season this year with the Ravens losing 113-97 in a road game on January 13th at Cowley followed a couple of weeks later on February 5th with the Ravens losing at home 96-91 to the Tigers.  The Ravens would very much like to give the Tigers a little payback for those losses.

The Coffeyville Cowley Region VI semifinal matchup is scheduled for Monday, March 2nd at 7:00 pm at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City Kansas.

Streaming of the game can be found by clicking here!

Region VI Tournament bracket can be found by clicking here!