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By RAMA PEROO
Cowley College

After a slow start offensively, the No. 12-ranked Cowley College men's basketball team scored 50 second half points en route to a 82-65 win at Labette on Monday. The victory was the Tigers' 11th in a row.

"We will take a win on the road," Cowley coach Steve Eck said. "But, you are only as good as your next game."

Labette's Mekaile Reed, the conference's leading scorer at 22.5 points per game, scored nine quick points to help Labette keep pace with the Tigers through the game's first eight minutes of play.

However, Reed would not score again until Cowley had built a 47-32 lead with 13:28 remaining in the game. Reed would go on to finish with 21 points, but it was too little, too late for the Cardinals as the loss dropped their record to 5-12 overall and 1-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Cowley out-shot Labette 48 percent to 33.9 percent as they improved to 17-1 overall and 6-0 in the Jayhawk East. After committing 15 turnovers in the first half, Cowley committed just five over the game's final 20 minutes of play.

Chris Rhymes continued his strong play by finishing with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Crowder added 17. Sophomore Eric McKinney had his third straight solid outing as he recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Cowley dominated on the boards as they out-rebounded Labette 44-21.

The Tigers, in the midst of a four-game road trip, will face an important contest Wednesday at Independence. The Pirates have won 14 games in a row and are tied with Cowley for the top spot in the conference with a record of 6-0. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m. and can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM Arkansas City.

"They are a good team and are a high-energy team," Eck said. "We have got to figure out how to play the whole game."

Box score:

Cowley (82): Preston Brown 3-7 0-0 6, Reggie Cook 0-3 0-0 0, Montrell McDonald 2-6 5-6 9, Chris Rhymes 5-12 9-10 19, Eric McKinney 6-13 0-2 12, Mike Atwater 1-1 0-0 2, Marcus Butler 1-2 3-6 5, Jack Crowder 6-11 5-5 17, Kyle Hammerschmidt 2-4 4-6 8, Zach Miller 2-2 0-2 4. Totals: 28-61 26-37 82.

Labette (65): Lencoya Strain 3-10 3-4 11, Chris Woodson 2-6 0-2 4, Makaile Reed 7-16 5-5 21, Ismar Neto 4-10 5-7 13, Terry Dawson 2-6 0-0 4, A.J. Watts 0-1, 2-4 2, Damon Odom 1-2 0-0 2, Aaron Irving 0-2 0-0 0, Andrija Tintor 2-9 1-2 5. Totals: 21-61 19-27 65.

Three-pointers: Cowley 0-5 (Brown 0-1, Rhymes 0-1, McKinney 0-2, Hammerschmidt 0-1), Labette 4-19 (Strain 2-7, Reed 2-5, Neto 0-2, Odom 0-1, Watts 0-1, Irving 0-1, Tintor 0-2. Rebounds: Cowley 44 (Rhymes, McKinney 10), Labette 21 (Reed 6). Assists: Cowley 15 (Rhymes 4), Labette 11 (Woodson, Neto 5). Turnovers: Cowley 20, Labette 16. Total fouls: Cowley 22, Labette 27. Fouled out: McDonald, Dawson. Technicals: Cowley bench.