Tigers drop season-opener at NOC-Tonkawa, 110-96

In a battle of ranked teams, No. 13-ranked Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Mavericks raced out to a big lead and never looked back in defeating No. 24-ranked Cowley College 110-96 Wednesday in the season-opener for both teams played in Tonkawa, OK.

"We were awful," Cowley head coach Tommy DeSalme said. "We looked like a JV team playing the Los Angeles Lakers."

It was a different feel in the arena as no fans were allowed entrance to the game. However, the Mavericks (1-0) felt right at home as they raced out to a 19-6 lead. NOC's lead would grow to 26-8 following an alley-oop dunk by Tyrel Morgan with 12:15 left in the opening half.

Cowley (0-1) would pull within 40-28 following a jumper by freshman Raishaun Brown, but could not get the lead under double digits before heading into halftime trailing 61-45.

The Mavericks' shot 57 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play and were led by JD Ray's 25 first-half points. Sophomore transfer Clarence King tried to keep the Tigers in the game by scoring 15 points in the opening half.

Cowley hung around early in the second half and trailed 71-59 following a dunk by sophomore Shemarri Allen. However, that would be as close as the Tigers would get as NOC-Tonkawa continued its torrid shooting pace and led by as many as 26 points (98-72) before Cowley made a late run to fall 110-96.

"I was shocked in some ways, but we also kind of got what we deserved," DeSalme said. "We are lacking urgency and passion right now."

Ray led all scorers with 28 points and also dished out a game-high eight assists as NOC shot 53.6 percent from the floor. The Mavericks also got a pair of double-doubles from Tyrel Morgan (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Avante Lederer (13 points, 12 rebounds) as they out-rebounded Cowley by 22.

"They just took us to the woodshed with their physicality," DeSalme said.

Returning All-American Dalen Ridgnal scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and added a game-high 15 rebounds for the Tigers, while fellow sophomore Cevin Clark added 18 points. King was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 15 points, while sophomore Jacquez Yow added 10 points off the bench.

"It's a new year, we have got to forget about what we did last year," DeSalme said.

The teams will face each other again this Saturday when they square off in Arkansas City. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. Due to conference guidelines no fans will be admitted.

"We hope to learn from this on film and need to get our edge back," DeSalme said. "We hope this veteran group will respond and see this as an opportunity to get right back on the horse."

Box score:

Cowley (96): Kobe Campbell 3-10 1-2 7, Shemarri Allen 2-3 0-3 4, Cevin Clark 6-13 4-4 18, Dalen Ridgnal 6-16 8-8 22, Biar Garang 0-1 0-0 0, Mike'l Henderson 0-8 3-4 3, Clarence King 6-13 2-2 15, Moun'tae Edmundson 2-7 1-1 6, Raishaun Brown 2-5 4-4 9, Tarese Morse 1-3 0-1 2, Jacquez Yow 2-7 6-10 10, Josiah Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Robins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-87 29-39 96.

NOC (110): Tyrel Morgan 8-13 1-3 17, JD Ray 9-20 4-5 28, Mark Berry 2-3 0-0 4, Nate Goodlow 5-5 0-3 11, Syrus Grisby 7-9 1-1 15, Justin Wilson 5-8 0-0 10, Malik Crawford 2-2 0-0 4, Avante Lederer 4-15 4-4 13, Camryn Dennis 2-6 0-0 5, Kevin Sesberry 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 45-84 10-16 110.

Three-pointers: Cowley 7-32 (Clark 2-7, Ridgnal 2-5, King 1-4, Edmundson 1-4, Brown 1-2, Henderson 0-6, Campbell 0-2, Yow 0-1, Garang 0-1), NOC 10-26 (Ray 6-12, Lederer 1-7, Dennis 1-4, Sesberry 1-2, Goodlow 1-1). Rebounds: Cowley 41 (Ridgnal 15), NOC 63 (Lederer 12). Assists: Cowley 7 (seven players with 1), NOC 21 (Morgan 7). Turnovers: Cowley 10, NOC 27. Total fouls: Cowley 21, NOC 31. Fouled out: Allen. Technicals: none.