ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. - The Independence Men’s Basketball team suffered their first loss since before the Christmas break as they fell to Cowley on the road 86-74 on Saturday afternoon. 

In a tightly contested KJCCC, every game meant that much more and last year's KJCCC champions, Cowley, entered the game looking to snap a three game losing skid, and that urgency shown through as the Tigers jumped out to a lead midway through the first half and never looked back.

After a back and forth first few minutes, the Pirates took a 13-11 lead at the 14 minute mark, but Cowley answered with 10 unanswered points that resulted in a 17-6 run to put the Tigers up 28-19. The slim two point lead would be the final time on the afternoon the Pirates would hold a lead, as Indy was never able to find that big run they needed to get themselves back within striking distance. Right before half the Pirates did get within three, but a final 5-2 spurt for the Tigers gave them a six point lead heading to the break.

In the second half, the Tigers immediately pushed their lead to double digits and never looked back from there, as a cold shooting night and turnovers plagued the Pirates and left them unable to ever threaten the Tiger lead. 

The Cowley lead got as high as 18 points in the second half, and as low as 11 as the Pirates were never able to break through and cut the deficit back to single digits.

The Pirates finished the day shooting 47% from the field and 36% from deep, but 20 turnovers led to 25 points for the Tigers. Cowley also had a strong advantage in the paint as they finished with 40 points from in close compared to the Pirates 28. The Tigers were also able to get to the free throw line 24 times, converting 18 of them. 

The Pirates did have a balanced scoring attack as four starters finished in double figures, led by Trae Lewis with 14. David Wilson added 13, while Sterling Knox and Fortune Anslem-Ibe pitched in 11 and 10 points respectively. Lonne Bass Jr finished with eight points and a game high nine rebounds off of the bench. 

The Pirates, now 9-6 overall and 7-3 in KJCCC play, have a great opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday, as they host Dodge City at 7:30. The Pirates and the Conquistadors are currently two of the four teams tied atop the KJCCC standings at 7-3, joining Seward County and Butler.