In March 1942, Cowles led Dartmouth to a 47-28 victory over Kentucky to win the East Championship,[REF] and the team advanced to the NCAA Basketball Championship game against Stanford at Kansas City, Missouri [REF].
After 22 months of service, Cowles received his honorable discharge from the Navy in December 1944 and returned to his head coaching duties at Dartmouth in January 1945 [REF].