C of O Basketball Teams Split in Kansas

The College of the Ozarks Basketball Teams split a pair of games at Kansas Christian College on Tuesday night.

Details on both games from College of the Ozarks Sports Information:

C of O Women
The College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats continued putting marks in the win column Tuesday when they traveled to Overland Park, Kansas and handed Kansas Christian College an 85-53 loss.  The Lady Cats nearly carbon copied their result from a week ago when the Lady Cats defeated the Falcons 89-47.

The Lady Cats wasted no time setting the tone in this one using a Kyra Hardesty three and baskets by Michelle Gabani, Kayley Frank, Jordan Wersinger, and Annie Noah to  jump out to a 15-0 early lead. The Falcons scored their first points at the 4:31 mark and seemed to get their legs under them as they slowly began to chip away at the lead. Katie Mayes got on the board as time ran down in the opening frame but a Brandeja Holloman jumper cut the Lady Cat lead to, 20-10 to end the period.  

The Lady Cats started the scoring in the second quarter with buckets by Kayley Frank and Stevi Jones. The Falcons were determined to keep the game close and scored six unanswered points to cut the Lady Cat lead to eight with 6:34 remaining in the half. Jada Henry and Blythe Benefield each got in the scoring column for the Lady Cats but KCC answered each basket.  A Jordan Wersinger layup then sparked a 14-5 run and the Lady Cats took a 46-29 lead into the intermission. 

Frank and Wersinger started the second half scoring and the Lady Cats began to pull away. Frank found her groove and scored 11 of her 15 points in the third quarter to propel the Lady Cats to their growing lead. A pair of Annie Noah Free throws at the 6:51 mark gave the Lady Cats their largest lead, 54-31. The Falcons efforts to challenge and cut into the lead were met with constant Lady Cat resistance. KCC was able to put together a 5-1 mini run to close out the third quarter but the Lady Cats were well in control leading 66-43 at the break.  

An 8-0 Lady Cat run to start the final stanza removed all doubt in the contest. The Lady Cats were rolling, and the Falcons were just trying to keep pace.  A pair of free throws and a basket by Cameran Martin put the Lady Cats up 78-50 with 5:22 remaining and the falcons were struggling to put points on the board. Jada Henry and Katie Mayes rounded out the scoring for the Lady Cats in the contest in the final minute. The Falcons scored the final three points as time ran out to cut the final score to 85-53 for the Lady Cat win.

The Lady Cats connected on 50.7% of their tries from the field in the win with Kayley Frank leading the way with 15, Jordan Wersinger added 14, and Jada Henry tacked on 13.  Cameran Martin and Katie Mayes each added nine points while Annie Noah chipped in eight to compliment her 13 rebounds. Kyra Hardesty added six, while Blythe Benefield and Michelle Gabani each chipped in four. Stevi Jones tacked on three to round out the Lady Cat scoring.
The Lady Cats will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Arkansas to face Champion Christian College Friday and Arkansas Baptist University on Saturday.  

C of O Men
Coming off one of their hottest shooting nights in school history and winning five of their last six games, the College of the Ozarks Bobcats traveled to Overland Park, Kansas Tuesday for a rematch with the Falcons of Kansas Christian College.  The Bobcats took the earlier meeting 74-69 at Keeter Gymnasium and went to Kansas with plans of a repeat performance. Their 49.1% from the field was not enough to overcome costly turnovers down the stretch, however, and the Falcons reversed the score on the Bobcats to win 75-69.

The contest appeared to be a tug of war from the opening tip as neither team could build a lead. With multiple ties and lead changes in the opening frame, both teams battled to gain an advantage. In contrast to the Bobcats earlier game this week, three-point baskets were much harder to come by. The first half saw Andrew Mitchell drain a pair from long range and Kyle Flavin added one, but the majority of the scoring for both teams came in the paint and off turnovers. With time running down, Josh Linehan scored to put the Bobcats up 33-31 heading to the break. With 11 ties and five lead changes in the first 20 minutes of play, the second half was sure to be a continued battle. 

KCC got the early upper hand in the second half with a deep three out of the gate. Another quick two gave the falcons their biggest lead but Josh Linehan answered to cut the gap to one, 36-35. A Tanner Diaz bucket put the Bobcats back on top with 16:19 left to play and the fight to hold off the Falcons was on. The two teams traded jabs over the next eight minutes with the Bobcats holding a slim advantage. A Jouvens Hyacinthe free throw at the 8:19 mark would tie the score at 49 and it was now the Bobcats turn to play catch up. Five unanswered points put the home team up 54-49 and the Bobcats needed to respond. Free throws by Matt Luebbert and Kyle Flavin combined with a Matt Luebbert three gave the Bobcats a 7-0 run and the lead 56-54. The Falcons tied the score at 56 on the next possession but a Kyle Flavin three answered for the Bobcats.  The teams would go back and forth until a free throw by Janvarius Washington knotted the score at 64-64.  A string of seven free throws combined with Bobcat turnovers translating into Falcon points would prove to be costly down the stretch. Tanner Diaz connected for two with :13 left to play making the score 73-69. A Quick foul would send Vince Smith to the line for the falcons where he would drain both to seal the win and the final score of 75-69.

The Bobcats were led by Josh Linehan’s 21 points. Andrew Mitchell and Kyle Flavin also reached double figures with 15 and 13 respectively. Matt Luebbert contributed seven, Tanner Diaz, Garrett Simmerman, and Blaine Cline each tacked on four, and Tanner Rogers chipped in one.  

The Bobcats will be back in action this weekend as they head to Arkansas to take on Champion Christian College on Friday and Arkansas Baptist University on Saturday.