Kansas City Kansas Community College came within an eyelash of the first major upset of the Jayhawk Conference season Saturday as perennial power Cowley escaped in overtime 80-73.
Boosting their record to 11-2, the Cowley women made it a sweep by pulling away in the second half for a 59-42 win. The Blue Devils now go on the road for four straight contests starting Wednesday at Johnson County with games at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
KCKCC led the entire second half of the men’s game only to have Cowley tie it 65-all when Rayshaun McCrew made one of two free throws with 21 seconds left and the Tigers blocked a last second Blue Devil attempt.
Three straight offensive rebounds enabled Cowley to take an early 3-point lead in overtime. Two free throws by D.J. Booker with 1:32 left got KCKCC even at 71-71 with 1:32 left but a field goal by James Milliken followed seconds later by a mid-court steal and slam dunk by Ben Vozzola put the game out of reach.
KCKCC built its biggest lead at 56-46 on three straight Lamonte Burgette field goals including a pair of three-pointers with 8:54 left but Cowley used its size advantage to haul down 13 second half offensive rebounds to pull even. Free throws also hurt the Blue Devils, who made only 4 of 10 the second although Cowley netted just 6 of 14.
Antonio Winn had his finest game for KCKCC (3-9), leading all scorers with a career high 21 points including five of nine from 3-point range. A 6-1 freshman guard from Truman, Winn also had seven rebounds and five assists. Dominique Washington added 16 points and seven rebounds and Booker 13 points and five assists.
Cowley also used rebounding superiority in pulling away in the women’s opener. Leading just 23-19 at halftime, the Lady Tigers had a 40-28 rebound advantage along with forcing 22 turnovers.
Samantha Hurst had 10 points and Maariah Marusak and Bailey West eight each for KCKCC (4-9). West also led in rebounding with eight.
