ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. — The No. 10 Dragons lost for the first time in eight road games Saturday night.
It came in Tommy DeSalme's first return to Cowley since he led the Tigers to a national championship appearance.
DeSalme was honored during introductions as the winningest coach in Cowley history.
The game also marked the return of five former Tigers in Dragon uniforms.
The two Tigers that did not transfer to Hutchinson hurt the Dragons the most.
Raishaun Brown was held scoreless in the first half, but tallied 16 points in the second, including a dagger three after a couple of offensive rebounds in the waning moments.
Brown added seven rebounds and five assists.
Former Blue Dragon Clarence King, who played under Steve Eck, had a breakout performance with 21 points and six rebounds.
Hutchinson (18-4, 12-4) overcame a 15-point deficit in the first half to enter the locker room down only four.
In each half around the six-minutes-remaining mark, the Dragons held five-point leads.
The score was tied nine times and featured six lead changes.
Down three with seven seconds left, Hutchinson got two final looks at three.
The first came from Angelo Stuart, who only played seven minutes in the second half. Stuart finished with eight points on 2 of 4 three-point shooting.
Kobe Campbell, who finished with a career-high 23 points, got the offensive rebound off Stuart's miss underneath the basket. He raced out to the three-point line for a fadeaway three as time expired, but the ball fell short.
FINAL: Cowley 83 Hutchinson 80
The Dragons made just 5 of 29 threes (17.2%).
Cowley (12-10, 8-6) was on fire from three in the first half, hitting 5 of 7 attempts. The Tigers finished with 46.7% shooting from distance.
Jacquez Yow was the only Dragon starter to register double-digit scoring with 15 points.
The Dragons only made good on 59.4% of their free throws.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.