ARKANSAS CITY – Keeping the pace with number 13 nationally ranked Cowley College in the second half, it would be a 53-32 first half deficit that the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team would be unable to recover from in a 102-81 defeat inside W.O. Scott Auditorium in Arkansas City on Saturday.
Cloud County is now 8-12 overall and 2-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Tigers remain atop both the KJCCC and KJCCC East Division by improving to 18-3 overall and 10-1 in conference play.
Needing to hit their shots and limit turnovers to keep things close with a Cowley team averaging nearly 110 points per game, Cloud County would be unable to do either as an 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) shooting performance in the first half would not allow CCCC to keep up with a 46.3 percent (19-for-41) first-half performance from Cowley. 25 total turnovers by Cloud County in the game allowed Cowley to hold a 31-16 advantage in points off turnovers while a 55-45 advantage in rebounds for the Tigers led to a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Four players would reach double-figures for Cloud County led by a season-high 21 points from sophomore DJ Sims who would also grab three rebounds. Jay Lewis would pitch in 14 points, while Dyelan Reed and Denzel Ndongosi each scored 10 points. The Tigers would see five players hit double-digits, with Shemarri Allen matching Sims for the high point total of the night with 21 points.
What's next?
The next chance for Cloud County to get in the win column will come on Wednesday at 8 p.m. when the T-Birds play host to Allen Community College. Allen is 12-7 overall and 7-3 in the KJCCC and are on a three-game losing skid after starting conference play off 7-0.
--cloudtbirds.com--