Cowboys Hold Off Seminole in Season Finale, 66-60
In a season finale that was marred by over 30 turnovers, 54 fouls and two ejections on Sophomore Night, the Connors State Cowboys held off visiting Seminole Sate 66-60 for a sweep of the Trojans.
WARNER—In a season finale that was marred by over 30 turnovers, 54 fouls and two ejections on Sophomore Night, the Connors State Cowboys held off visiting Seminole Sate 66-60 for a sweep of the Trojans.
Connors will enter the Region II Tournament next Wednesday at Shawnee's Oklahoma Baptist University against an opponent to be determined over the weekend. Cowboys concludes the regular season 24-5 and 13-3 in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference one game behind Northeastern A&M, snapping the Cowboys run of five consecutive OCAC titles. Seminole ends the regular season at 18-10 and 8-8.
However, the Cowboys still have an outside chance of tying for the league crown. NEO's clash with Northern Oklahoma-Enid was postponed Thursday night due to inclement weather and will be played Friday, along with several other conference games.
"It was the last game of the year and I don't know if the guys were looking ahead to the tournament," said Coach Bill Muse. "We really just can't look past anybody.
"We have a lot of room to improve before the tournament. "We have had a great season so far, but we just have to continue to get better. Hopefully when one guy is down someone will step up."
The Cowboys held a 16-point advantage at the intermission, 39-23 before the Trojans began slicing into the Connors lead. Seminole battled back to within four points three times, the last coming with 52 seconds remaining in the physical contest, 61-57.
Connors put the game away draining 5-of-6 at the free throw line in the final 24 seconds. The Cowboys drained 29-of-31 at the stripe, while Seminole was 16-of-23.
Both squads will be missing a player in the opening game of the Region Tournament after an exchange of punches and ejections. Cowboys will be without Daylon Tanksley and the Trojans' Benjamin Jenkins.
Burke Putnam led the Connors scoring with 17 points followed by Calen Haydon's 11. Dominique Primer led the Trojans with 18 points.
CONNORS STATE 66 SEMINOLE STATE 60
Seminole State 23 37--60
Connors State 39 27--66
Seminole State (18-10, 8-8)—Primer 18, Kolowski 10, Cleare 7, Kennedy 7, Kinser 5, Jenkins 4, Adkins 3, Slaughter 2, Dickerson 2, Gardner 2.
Connors State (24-5, 13-3)—Putnam 17, Haydon11, Lowe 8, Graham 7, T. Jones 6, Sidberry 5, Tanksley 5, Riggs 5, I. Jones 2.