Men's Basketball | 11/25/2025 11:46:00 PM

Box Score After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second-half, the Cloud County Community College men's basketball team mounted a ferocious rally to pull ahead by three points with just over six minutes to play, but No. 23 Cowley College closed strong to hand the T-Birds a 95-89 loss Tuesday, November 25 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) play. The loss, the second against a ranked opponent in a four-day span, moves Cloud County to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in KJCCC action, while the Cowley College Tigers snapped a two-game losing skid to improve to 6-2 on the year and 1-1 in KJCCC play.

Freshman forward Al Brooks Jr. delivered his fifth double-double of the season to lead five T-Birds in double-figures. Brooks finished with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting and an 8-of-10 performance from the free-throw line, while adding a team-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Kam Williams joined him in double-figures with a season-high 16 points, including 10-of-12 free-throws, in 15 minutes of action.

Freshman forward D'ontez Walker totaled 12 points, three rebounds and a team-high three assists. Freshman forward Manasseh Stackhouse added 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard DJ Holloway chipped in 10 points with two made three-pointers to go with five rebounds. Sophomore guard Syncere Burnette and sophomore wing Samuel Akot had eight points apiece.

Cloud County won the rebounding battle, 36-31, but were outscored 36-24 in the paint. The T-Birds also committed 16 turnovers, which led to 18 points off turnovers for the Tigers.

Cowley College, which committed just 12 turnovers on the night, shot 31-of-65 (47.7 percent) from the field while holding the T-Birds to 27-of-63 (42.9 percent) shooting. Both teams hit eight three-pointers, while the T-Birds finished 27-of-35 (77.1 percent) from the free-throw line compared to 25-of-30 (83.3 percent) for Cowley College.

The Tigers had five players score in double-figures, led by a game-high 29 points from freshman guard Marcus Smith. Smith added four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Freshman guard Roman Miller totaled 15 points, while sophomore guard CJ Majors added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Kyden Thompson also had 13 points with a team-high five assists, while sophomore forward Leslie Owens Jr. rounded out Cowley College's double-figure scorers with 10 points and six rebounds.

The T-Birds started the game with an early nine point advantage at 13-4, but the Tigers battled back to tie the game at 17-all with 9:24 remaining in the first-half. A three-pointer by Miller gave Cowley College its first lead of the night with 8:47 to play before halftime. The Tigers went up by as much as seven points and ended the half with a 35-28 lead.

Initially, Cloud County made little headway in the second-half, watching Cowley College expand its lead to 14 points on a three-pointer by freshman forward Xavier Vickerstaff with 17:46 to go. The T-Birds soon began to will themselves back into the game by attacking the rim and earning opportunities at the free-throw line. Cloud County sparked a 15-4 run that included nine made free-throws to narrow the deficit to 49-46 with 12:55 to play.

Cowley College pushed the lead back to six points on another triple from Vickerstaff, but the T-Birds continued to chip away, tying the game at 70-all on a pair of free-throws by Walker with 7:20 remaining.

Moments later, Holloway canned his second three-pointer of the ballgame to give Cloud County its first lead of the second-half at 73-70 with 6:25 to go.

The Tigers regained control with a 9-0 run, including four points from Smith. The T-Birds fought back to pull to within one point at 82-81 on a jumper by Stackhouse with 2:46 to play, but that's as close as Cloud County would get. Cowley College answered with five straight points and managed to maintain a two possession lead the rest of the way.

Cloud County returns home to face the Dodge City Conquistadors (5-3, 1-1 KJCCC) in a conference game on Saturday, November 29. Game time is set for 4 pm.