HAYS — The No. 14 ranked Barton Cougars, the defending NJCAA men's basketball champion, lost a showdown 72-62 to Region 6 champion Cowley College Saturday.  The No. 2 seeded Tigers (29-4) swept three games from the Cougars this season.

The loss didn't prevent the No. 14 ranked Barton Cougars from landing the No. 9 seed in the NJCAA Tournament. The Cougars play Brunswick, N.C. at noon March 23 at Hutchinson's Sports Arena. The Cougars clinched the bid by beating Jayhawk League runner-up No. 21 ranked Coffeyville 89-74 in Friday's Region 6 semifinal.

Cowley will play Monday, March 24 against the Triton, Ill/Columbia State winner. All NJCAA tournament games are being streamed live via ESPN plus.

The Tigers outscored the Cougars 33-6 on 3-pointers to easily offset Barton's 42-26 edge from inside the stripe. Cowley converted nine first-half 3-pointers for 27 points.

Barton Cougar coach Jeremy Coombs was correct that the Cougars (25-8) were a virtual lock for an NJCAA invitation announced at 7 p.m. Sunday.

"I don't know how we're aren't in," Coombs said. "I don't know who else they'd put in. Our power schedule is better. I feel good about it, but you never know."

Cougar starters Keandre Kindell, Brent Moss, Sebastian Muchitsch and Aris Rodriguez played a combined 109 out of 120 possible minutes. Muchitsch led a balanced Cougar offense with 14 points. Fontaine Willias (12), Keande Kindell (11) and Eltramon Smith. Jr. (10) scored in double figures. Williams and Kindell, with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, earned all-tournament honors.

Cowley's Marcus Whitlock scored 23 points. Shamarrie Hugie and Dallas Whitney contributing 10 points each.

"We executed some things down the stretch that allowed us to stay in the ballgame," Coombs said. "We fought back and took the lead. The last eight minutes it got away from us. It was a physical game. We're not built for a physical game like that. We didn't adjust well after after the middle of the first half."

The Cougars jumped out to an early 8-0 lead. Barton led for the last time with 8:19 left. Cowley led 40-37 at halftime field by 9-of-20 shooting on 3-pointers.

Defense prevailed after halftime. Cowley converted 2-of-10 on 3-pointers, the same statistic the Cougars shot (2 for 10). The teams combined 31 charity tosses in the second half.

Barton's last lead was 49-48 that led to a 51-51 tie. Cowley broke the final tie with a 3-point play that sparked a decisive 8-0 stretch capped by its 11th 3-pointer for a 59-51 lead.

The Cougars cut the margin to five points multiple times, but couldn't get closer.

Barton 37 25—62

Cowley 40 32—72

BARTON (25-8) (FG 3 FT TP)—Muchitsch 4-8 (1-1) 5-6 14, Williams 4-9 (0-2) 4-7 12, Kindell 4-18 (1-4) 2-2 11, Smith 4-8 2-3 10, Rodriguez 4-8 (0-3) 0-0 8, Moss 3-13 1-2 7, Totals 23-64 (2-10) 14-20 62

COWLEY (29-4) (FG 3 FT TP)—Whitlock 7-16 (4-9) 5-7 23, Hugie 4-12 (1-2) 1-2 10, Zeigler 3-10 (1-7) 2-4 9, Jones 2-4 (1-2) 2-4 7, Nichols 2-6 (0-3) 1-3 5, Majors 1-3 (1-1) 0-0 3, Thompson 2-4 (1-2) 0-0 5, Totals 24-62 (11-30) 13-22 72

Rebounds—BC 45 (Moss 8), CC 38 (Hugie 8, Nichols 8). Assists—BC 9 (Kindell 4), CC 14 (Nichols 5). Steals—BC 8 (Kindell 3), CC 11 (Jones 4)

2025 NJCAA TOURNAMENT

HUTCHINSON 3-22 to 3-29

No. 1 Snow, Utah (32-1) vs. (3-22, noon) John A. Logan, Ill. (27-9)/Connors State, Okla. (28-3) winner

No. 8 Daytona, Fla. (27-5) vs. (3-23, noon) Barton Cougars (25-8)/Brunswick, N.C. (28-4) winner

No. 4 South Plains, Texas (27-6) vs. (3-22, 5:30) Chipola, Fla. (24-7)/Monroe, N.Y. (25-7) winner

No. 5 Jones, Miss. (26-6) vs. (3-23, 5:30) Angelina, Texas (26-6)/South Georgia State (23-9) winner

No. 2 Cowley College (29-4) vs. (3-22, 2:30) Triton, Ill. (28-5)/Columbia State (27-4) winner

No. 7 Trinity Valley, Texas vs. (3-23, 2:30) Pensacola, Fla. (23-11)/Trinidad, Colo. (18-14) winner

No. 3 Indian Hills, Iowa (27-5) vs. (3-22, 8) Vincennes, Ind. (30-6)/Three Rivers, Mo. (21-12) winner

No. 6 Panola, Miss. (27-6) vs. (3-23, 8) Frank Phillips, Texas (24-8)/Wallace State (26-5) winner

JAYHAWK MEN

Cowley 21-3 29-4

Coffeyville 18-6 23-9

Barton 17-7 25-8

Hutchinson 15-9 19-12

Butler 15-9 22-11

Colby 12-12 18-14

Garden City 12-12 18-14

Hays Northwest 11-13 14-16

Dodge City 11-13 15-17

Independence 8-16 12-19

Cloud 7-17 14-18

Pratt 7-17 11-20

Seward 2-22 3-26

REGION 6 MEN

FIRST ROUND-—Dodge City 96, Fort Hays Tech Northwest  82; Butler 95, Pratt 78; Cloud County 85, Colby 83; Garden City 88, Independence 86 (OT)

QUARTERFINALS—Cowley 87, Dodge City 74; Butler 74, Hutchinson 73; Barton 100, Cloud County 87; Coffeyville 80, Garden City 67

SEMIFINALS, HAYS —Cowley 58, Butler 54; Barton 89, Coffeyville 74

3-15 FINALS HAYS—Cowley 72, Barton 62