Cowley Release | All-Tournament Team

HAYS, Kan. – After winning the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Men’s Basketball regular season title by three games, the Cowley College basketball team solidified spot as a contender for the upcoming NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament by winning their first NJCAA Region 6 Men’s Basketball Tournament title in four years with a 72-62 win over Barton Community College inside Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kansas.

The first Region 6 Tournament title for Cowley since 2021 will see the Tigers advance to the NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball National Tournament for a second-straight year after being selected as an at-large selection last season and going 1-1 with a win over Allegany Maryland before falling to Northwest Florida State College in the second-round to keep a potential third matchup with eventual 2024 National Champion Barton from ever occurring.

Having clinched a share of the KJCCC regular season title back on February 19th and playing the last three games of the regular season with the number one seed in the Region 6 Tournament, the Tigers were forced to spend nearly a week sitting on a 72-69 defeat in the regular season finale to Butler Community College as an 18-point second-half rally was spoiled by a layup and free throw from Grizzly Emeka Opurum in the final seconds. Faced with taking on a Dodge City team that had handed the Tigers their only loss by double-digits this season in the NJCAA Region 6 Tournament quarterfinal round to open postseason play, Cowley survived their first test by outscoring the ninth-seeded Conquistadors 54-40 in the second half after going to the locker room down 34-33 to pull away with an 87-74 win to set up a third-meeting with Butler and a chance at avenging the three-point loss in the regular season finale.  

With the first two games between Cowley and Butler this season seeing a 10-point Tiger victory at home followed by the aforementioned three-point victory for the Grizzlies, Friday’s semifinal number one grudge match between the two teams more than lived up to the hype as late game heroics were called upon to send Cowley to the Tournament title game. The opening 12 minutes of play saw the Tigers jump out to a six-point lead but nothing bigger as the Grizzlies kept things within striking distance until an 8-4 spurt down the stretch grew the lead eight at the intermission break as both teams struggled offensively with 14 combined turnovers and a nine-of-19 (47.4 percent) shooting percentage from the free throw line. Things continued to be nip-and-tuck with Butler managing to tie the game at 41-41 before taking their first lead of the game on their next offensive possession with a Russell Branch made three to hold a 44-43 lead with 10:58 remaining. Trading leads back-and-forth over the next three-plus minutes of play, a Butler layup with 6:42 remaining gave the Grizzlies a 51-48 lead in what proved to be one of just two made field goals over the final seven minutes of play for Butler. The scoring woes for the Grizzlies proved to be beneficial for Cowley as the Tigers pulled back within a point at 52-51 with 2:16 remaining and turned a Grizzly turnover into a layup with 46 seconds left to get within a point. Another Butler turnover led to a foul and made free throw for Marcus Whitlock Jr. to tie the game at 54-54 as the pressure seemingly was getting to a young Grizzly backcourt. One final turnover by Butler led to a breakaway layup for Emarquis Jones to give Cowley the lead at 56-54 with 16 seconds left as a missed potential game-winning three for the Grizzlies fell into the hands of Jones who was fouled with one second left and calmly made both free throws to ice the game.

Things weren’t any easier in Saturday’s title game as number three-seed and defending Region 6 Tournament Champion and National Champion Barton Community College was attempting to become the first team since Coffeyville in 2018 to repeat as Region 6 Tournament Champions. Hot shooting from the night before carried over for the Cougars in the opening minutes of the game as Cowley fell into an 8-0 hole after just four minutes of play and keep the Tigers in a deficit for the opening 10 minutes of the first half. A Shamarrie Hugie putback at the midway point of the opening period allowed Cowley to take their first lead of the game as a physical slugfest continued to see both teams go back-and-forth with seven lead changes and three ties leading to a 40-37 lead for the Tigers at the half.

Withstanding each Barton push to take the lead and keeping the Cougars from being able to do so until the 9:17 mark of the second half when Keandre Kindell made a pair of free throws, Cowley quickly reclaimed the lead with a Dallas Whitney jumper before seeing the game tied back up at 51-51. A three-point play for Hugie sparked an 8-0 run for Cowley that allowed the Tigers to put some breathing room between them and Barton heading into the final stretch of the game as the Cougars could get no closer than five the rest of the way and see their hopes at solidifying their spot in the National Tournament slip away in the final minute with Whitney rejecting an Eltramon Smith Jr. layup before collecting the rebound and forcing BCC to foul and allow Cowley to officially put the game away as part of a 10-point win.

Cowley will now look to repeat the same success that Barton was able to put together last year by completing the trifecta of winning a KJCCC regular season title, NJCAA Region 6 Tournament Title, and NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball National Title with the 2025 tournament set for March 22-29 inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kansas. After being the highest-seeded team to not earn a first-round bye last season, the Tigers are currently in good shape to earn one of the coveted top eight seeds as the final NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Top 25 poll released on Monday, March 3rd, saw Cowley ranked fifth. The official tournament field will be released at 7 PM on Sunday, March 16th, live on the NJCAA Network (www.njcaa.org/network).