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SPECIAL TO THE TRAVELER

Having lost 26 of its last 27 meetings against Hutchinson, the Cowley College men's basketball team knew it would be in for a tough game on Wednesday. The No. 8-seeded Tigers needed overtime to get the job done, but they enacted some revenge with an 87-84 overtime win over the ninth-seeded Dragons in the first-round of the Region VI Tournament at home.

Hutchinson, which had knocked Cowley out of three of the past five Region VI Tournaments, looked as if they might do it again as they raced out to a 20-8 lead.

However, Cowley came back to take a 35-32 halftime lead behind 11 points apiece from Damien Lolar and Arturs Stalbergs.

There were five ties and 10 lead changes in the second half.

Julio Anthony's lay-in with 17.7 seconds left put Cowley on top 73-70, but Hutchinson's Durrall Peterson drained a three-pointer with 0.3 seconds remaining to force overtime.

Despite the Dragons gaining the momentum heading into overtime, it took Cowley just 15 seconds into the extra session to build a four-point lead.

Stalbergs opened the overtime with a basket and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Lolar grabbed the offensive rebound and stuck it back in to put Cowley up 77-73.

Hutchinson came back to tie the game at 77-77, but Cowley answered with five straight points to lead 82-77 with 1:21 left in overtime.

With Cowley holding on to an 86-84 lead, freshman James Franklin was sent to the free-throw line with 9.9 seconds left. Franklin missed the first attempt, but hit the second to give the Tigers a three-point lead.

Hutchinson had two three-point attempts in the final seconds, but Otis Campbell's three-pointer at the buzzer was long.

The 87-84 victory was the Tigers' sixth win in its last seven games, and improves Cowley's record to 21-10 overall. Hutchinson's season comes to an end with a record of 17-12.

"It was a great game, it's what you call playoff basketball," Cowley head coach Randy Smithson said.

Lolar and Stalbergs came up big for the Tigers. Lolar finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while Stalbergs added 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Cowley committed 26 turnovers, but made up for it by shooting 51.6 percent from the floor, and out-rebounding Hutchinson 51-35.

Cowley will now prepare to take on the top-seeded Garden City Bronc-busters at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Salina Bicentennial Center.

Tiger scorers: Marcus Watts 12, Arturs Stalbergs 15, Julio Anthony 14, Xavier Burnette 12, Damien Lolar 30, James Franklin 4. Totals: 32-62 19-37 87.

Three-pointers: Hutchinson 12-34 (Williams 4-11, Cayruth 2-4, Campbell 0-2, Peterson 4-12, Pruitt 0-1, Schuessler 2-4), Cowley 4-22 (Watts 1-4, Stalbergs 1-5, Anthony 0-3, Burnette 0-4, Lolar 1-5, Franklin 1-1). Rebounds: Hutchinson 35 (Cayruth 11), Cowley 51 (Lolar 16). Assists: Hutchinson 18 (Williams 6), Cowley 12 (Lolar 4). Turnovers: Hutchinson 17, Cowley 26. Total fouls: Hutchinson 30, Cowley 22. Fouled out: Peterson, Pruitt, Schuessler, Watts. Technicals: none.

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Trailing Butler Community College 26-20 with 13:37 left in Wednesday's first-round Region VI Tournament game, the Cowley women's stellar season appeared to be on the brink of disaster. However, the Lady Tigers snapped out of their funk to end the game with an incredible 38-4 run as they knocked off the Lady Grizzlies 58-30.

Cowley was off its game for most of the night, not scoring a point in the first 7:52 of action, and led the No. 15-seeded Lady Grizzlies by only three points (18-15) at the half.

Cowley made just one of its first nine shots to start the second half as Butler used an 11-2 run to lead 26-20. Staring at a possible first-round defeat and an end to its 22-game winning streak, the Lady Tigers regained the lead at 27-26 with 12:14 remaining, and made 16-of 23 shots over the game's final 13 minutes of play as they ended up with an improbable 28-point win.

Cowley ended up holding Butler to 24.5 percent shooting, and forced the Lady Grizzlies into 23 turnovers.

"The one thing we have been able to rely on all year is our defense," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Sophomore forward Tamala Turner finished with a game-high 18 points and 17 rebounds, while fellow sophomores Domenica Silva and Marina Caran chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore point guard Priscilla De Souza also played well as she finished with six points, nine assists, and five steals.

Butler's Asia Alston was averaging 15 points per game entering the contest, but was held to just two points on 1-of-11 shooting.

"For us to hold her to two points is unbelievable," Clark said.

The victory is Cowley's 23rd in a row, and improves the Lady Tigers' record to 30-1 overall. Cowley will be back in action Monday at 7 p.m. when they play seventh-seeded Barton County (20-11) at the Salina Bicentennial Center.

Lady Tigers' scorers: Tamala Turner 18, Kara Pridey 3, Domenica Silva 13, Priscilla De Souza 6, Marina Caran 11, Camila Nass 2, Sharee Hurt 5. Totals: 25-55 6-12 58.

Three-pointers: Butler 3-16 (Alston 0-1, Tatum 2-4, Witte 1-3, Lasley 0-2, L. Gray 0-5, C. Gray 0-1), Cowley 2-10 (Turner 0-1, De Souza 0-1, Schoenfeld 0-1, Caran 2-7). Rebounds: Butler 35 (Moses 8), Cowley 40 (Turner 17). Assists: Butler 8 (Tatum 3), Cowley 11 (De Souza 9). Turnovers: Butler 23, Cowley 17. Total fouls: Butler 15, Cowley 4. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.