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Connors State College

Cowboys Open NJCAA National Tournament with Win over Moberly Area

Connors State went on a first half tear and made it look it relatively easy as they posted an 86-77 win over Moberly (Mo) Area Community College in the opening round of the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship tournament Monday in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Cowboys Open NJCAA National Tournament with Win over Moberly Area
Box Score
March 25, 2024

Hutchinson, Kansas- Connors State went on a first half tear and made it look it relatively easy as they posted an 86-77 win over Moberly (Mo) Area Community College in the opening round of the National Junior College Athletic Association national championship tournament Monday in Hutchinson, Kansas.

After a couple of lead changes in the early going, the Cowboys with Donyae May hitting three treys, pushed the lead to 13-5 with four minutes gone and never looked back. Freshman Khamani Cooper and sophomore standout Bradyn Hubbard both chipped in 10 first half points to spark Connors (32-2). Connors led by as many as 21 points in the first half before Hubbard went to the bench with his second foul with eight minutes left and the Greyhounds went on a 9-0 run to get to within 14 points at halftime 43-29.

"I thought a lot of our success was that we were well prepared going in," said CSC head coach Bill Muse. "We had a good game plan and Bill (Muse Jr.) did a good job of scouting them. We got off to a quick start and made shots early which really helped, and our defense was really good also They came out and scored quickly in the second half to cut into the lead, but we just never gave in. We had big scoring numbers for Buddy, Bradyn, Donyae and Khamani but Tony Green had 11 rebounds and that's also big for us."

Cooper proved to be the power for the Cowboys in the second half, canning four 3-pointers and ending up with a game-high 29 points, while Hubbard finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Westville's Buddy Hammer battled inside for 16 points and Mae ended up with 12 points. Connors maintained a double-digit lead until Moberly took advantage of some Cowboy turnovers to trim the lead to 68-60 with six minutes left. But the Cowboys went on a 6-0 run to up the lead back to 14 and the Greyhounds would get no closer than eight in the final minute of the game.

Akili Evans, one of three D-I commits on the Greyhounds squad, led Moberly with 20 points in the game including five 3-pointers.

The Cowboys will move on in the tournament to play third-seeded Salt Lake Community College at 5 p.m. Tuesday.