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By RAMA PEROO
Cowley College

Trailing by as many as 12 points (32-20) in the first half of its game against Coffeyville Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 17-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team used a 21-0 second half run to defeat Coffeyville Community College 83-68.

Playing in front of its largest home crowd of the season, the Tigers appeared a little tight for the majority of the first half. However, sophomore forward Chris Rhymes, who finished with a season-high 33 points on 15-of-20 shooting, scored seven straight points to help Cowley close the first half on a 16-4 run.

"When we got down by 12, I didn't know how we were going to react and the guys didn't either," Cowley coach Steve Eck said. "We finally started playing aggressive and forced some turnovers."

After Coffeyville scored the first three points of the second half to lead 39-36, Cowley proceeded to score 21 straight points over a six minute span. Sophomore Montrell McDonald scored eight of his 18 points during the 21-0 run, which put Cowley on top 57-39 with 13 minutes remaining.

Cowley forced several Red Raven turnovers in building the 18-point lead. Coffeyville committed 26 turnovers in the game and shot just 33.8 percent from the floor, as they never got closer than within 15 points of the Tigers.

"When we play aggressive and guard somebody we're pretty good, when we don't we're just average," Eck said.

Coffeyville, the winner of the past seven straight Jayhawk East titles, is now 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference. J.J. Seymore led Coffeyville with 24 points, while Daniel Payne added 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Rhymes, the Tigers' leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, is averaging 27 points over his last two contests. Cowley shot 51 percent from the floor and improved to 14-1 overall and 3-0 in the Jayhawk East.

The Tigers, winners of eight games in a row, will now prepare to host Johnson County (9-6 overall, 1-2 Jayhawk East) Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"Each game is a big game," Eck said. "If we don't guard them they can shoot lights out."

Box score:

Coffeyville (68): J.J. Seymore 8-20 4-6 24, Lucas Lumb 0-3 0-2 0, Lenny Daniel 5-8 4-6 14, Jonathan Blake 1-5 1-2 3, Daniel Payne 5-15 6-8 17, Michael Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Devron Washington 0-2 2-2 2, Terrance Hill 3-11 0-0 8. Totals: 22-65 17-26 68.

Cowley (83): Preston Brown 0-4 0-0 0, Reggie Cook 3-9 1-3 8, Montrell McDonald 8-14 2-2 18, Chris Rhymes 15-20 1-2 33, Eric McKinney 2-8 0-0 4, Mike Atwater 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Butler 3-4 2-2 8, Jack Crowder 3-6 1-2 8, Kyle Hammerschmidt 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Miller 1-3 0-2 2. Totals: 36-70 7-13 83.