The Cloud County men dropped their Jayhawk Conference opener to Independence Monday night by a score of 84-73.

The Pirates of Independence outscored the T-Birds 52-35 in the second half fueling the victory. Independence is undefeated on the season, moving to 10-0 with the victory. Cloud fell to 7-4.

Cardarius Williams got the T-Birds going early in the game scoring four of Cloud's first eight to give the T-Birds an early 8-2 lead. Cloud led Independence the entire first half. The Thunderbirds biggest lead came at the 8:00 minute mark as Cloud was up 24-13 on the Pirates after a bucket by Dejuan Sherman. At that point, Indy scored nine straight to get back within two at 24-22. 

Cloud and Indy would battle to the end of the half. With 30 seconds left in the half Aamahne Santos drained a deep three to give Cloud a six point lead going into halftime at 38-32. 

Independence entered the game as the best shooting team in Region VI. The T-Birds held the Pirates to just 27.8% shooting in the first half. 

It was a completely different story in the second half. Indy shot 60.7% after the break and dominated the T-Birds on the glass. The Pirates came out of halftime and went on a 20-6 run and grabbed an eight point lead at 52-44. Cloud clawed its way back in it. The T-Birds drew charges on back to back trips and Devonte Dixon nailed a three in between to make it 61-62 with nine minutes to play. After a foul on Cloud's Alex Martin, Cardarius Williams picked up a technical foul with Cloud trailing by just one. The Pirates then went on a 13-0 run and didn't look back. The T-Birds dropped the contest by the score of 84-73.

Point guard Aamahne Santos did everything he could to keep the T-Birds alive in the second half. The Freshman from Dorchester, MA scored 16 points and dished out 12 assists on the night. Demonte Ojinnaka scored 15 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. Williams turned in his strongest performance of the season with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks.  

Cloud shot 46.9% from the field including 10-22 from deep. Despite the strong shooting performance the T-Birds were manhandled on glass getting outrebounded by the Pirates 50-30. Cloud also shot just eight free throws on the night compared to 38 for Indy. 

Chad Eshbaugh's Thunderbirds will have little time to regroup as they head to Arkansas City on Wednesday to play Cowley College. Cowley is currently 8-3 on the season.