Cowboys Rebound After First Loss of Season

Warner- It was a quick turnaround for the Connors State Cowboys from Saturday to Monday and they went 1-1 on the swing, losing to Dallas College Eastfield Saturday 104-101 to break their unbeaten streak at nine games and then were victorious 91-73 Monday night against South Arkansas Community College Stars at Melvin Self Fieldhouse.

Bradyn Hubbard continued to pace Connors with 35 points in each game as the Cowboys moved to 10-1.

Too many mistakes and lack of strong defensive play were two of the factors that coach Bill Muse pointed to in the loss to Eastfield.

"We just played sloppy. It was the first time we've been pressed all year, and we didn't handle it well and had too many turnovers. But we still had big leads in both halves that we let get away from us and there were other conditions there that contributed to the loss. It's not our style to give up 100 points and win. We tried to outscore them and found out that's not our game. Tonight, we played much better, particularly on defense which is what we've got to do. Hubbard played well again, (Buddy) Hammer played well and our guard play was steady."

It was a game of surges as the Cowboys led most of the way though the Stars tied the game at 24-all midway through the first half. The Cowboys stretched it back out to a 10-point margin only to see South Arkansas cut it back down to a five-point deficit at halftime 47-42. Connors broke out to a 14-point lead seven minutes into the second half, but one last Stars run cut it back to six at one point before the Cowboys took control over the final 10 minutes.

The Cowboys will be on the road the rest of the week playing at the University of Arkansas-Cossatot Wednesday and Neosho (Kan) College on Saturday before returning home next Tuesday to close out the pre-holiday schedule against Shorter College at 7:30 p.m.