The Northern Oklahoma College Mavs and Lady Mavs opened the 2021 season Wednesday night splitting two games against Cowley College at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse.
The #13 Mavs (1-0) beat #24 Cowley 110-96 while the Lady Mavs (0-1) lost to the Cowley women 89-66.
Mavs 110, Cowley 96
In an early season match-up between top 25 teams, the NOC Mavericks raced out to a big early lead and outlasted Cowley College 110-96.
“For the first game of the year and the limited practices we have had, I was extremely pleased with our energy level to start the game,” said head coach Donnie Jackson.
“Cowley plays a unique style, it’s a very hard game,” Jackson added. “They are going to keep trapping no matter what the situation. You have to take care of the ball against their press, you have to sprint back in transition every time and you have to locate shooters in a hurry.”
NOC built a19 point lead midway in the first half at 49-30 before settling for a 61-45 lead at half. In the second half, the Mavs built a 100-77 lead before Cowley rallied to within 13 at 103-90 but that was as close as the Tigers would come.
JD Ray led six players in double figures with 28 points while Tyrel Morgan had 17, Avante Lederer 13, Nate Goodlow 11, and Justin Wilson 10. Lederer had 12 rebounds while Morgan added 11. Ray added eight assists.
The Mavs shot 54% from the field and 42% from 3-point range.
“We have a quick turnaround and play them again Saturday,” Jackson said. “I expect their absolute best and we will need to be ready.”
Mavs 110, Cowley 96
1 2—Total
Cowley 45 51– 96
Mavs 61 49—110
Cowley—D. Rigdnall 22, C. Clark 18, C. King 13, J. Yow 10, R. Brown 9, K. Campbell 7, M. Edmundson 6, M. Henderson 5, S. Allen 4, T. Morse 2.
Mavs—JD Ray 28, T. Morgan 17, S. Grisby 15, A. Lederer 13, N. Goodlow 11, J. Wilson 10, C. Dennis 5, M. Berry 4, M. Crawford 4, K. Sesberry 3.
Cowley 89, Lady Mavs 66
The Lady Mavs, playing out starting guards Celeste Moore and Mia Brown, fell to the Lady Tigers 89-66.
“That being our first competition this season, we see innumerable things to work on,” said Lady Mavs head coach Greg Krause. “But it is very good to get the season started and go to work.”
Freshman Delaney Reimer led the Lady Mavs with 24 points her in collegiate debut. Chloe Brinlee and Lauren Coates added eight points each for the Lady Mavs. Travisha Cogdell led the Lady Mavs with eight rebounds.
Reimer was 8 of 14 from the floor and connected on four 3-pointers.
The Lady Mavs trailed Cowley 30-25 midway in the second quarter when Cowley went on a 24-2 run at the end of the half to take a 54-27 halftime lead.
Cowley 89, Lady Mavs 66
1 2 3 4—Total
Cowley 21 33 23 12– 89
NOC 15 12 18 21– 66
Cowley—R. Beard 19, J. Marlnee 13, B. Fincher 11, M. Kowalska 10, K. Daniels 10, B Byers 8, S. Boltz 7, T. Brouwer 3, S. Austin 3, T. Vang 2, L. Lally 2, S. Henderson 1.
NOC—D. Reimer 24, C. Brinlee 8, L. Coates 8, T. Cogdell 6, M. Livesay 5, R. Zhivachka 5, C. Baitley 5, G. Myers 3, K. Belcher 2.
On Saturday, NOC travels to Cowley for return games starting at 5:30 p.m. In their next home game, the Maverick men host Ft. Scott Tuesday at 4 p.m. As a reminder, no fans are allowed due to Covid-19 policies but most games are available on livestream at https://www.noc.edu/athletics/streaming/tonkawa-athletics-streaming/ .
The Lady Mavs next game is at Labette (KS) Jan. 29.
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services which create life-changing experiences and develop students as effective learners and leaders within their communities in a connected, ever changing world.
NOC, a public two-year community college, serves nearly 5,000 students on the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater, online, and the University Center in Ponca City. Of these students about 60% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. Over 80% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
NOC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science. The associate degree fulfills lower-division course work which is applicable towards a bachelor’s degree.
Call (580) 628-6200 for more information about Northern Oklahoma College or visit www.noc.edu .
