WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team added another win to their season record Tuesday night, Jan. 8, with a 83-50 victory over Volunteer State Community College, Gallatin, Tenn., at the West Plains Civic Center.
Now 12-7, the Grizzlies will enter Region 16 play Saturday, Jan. 12, with a road trip to Park Hills, Mo., for a 7 p.m. contest against the Mineral Area College Cardinals.
Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker was pleased with his team’s win over Volunteer State’s Pioneers, but he said, “we have to have good practices heading into Region 16 play on Saturday.”
As for Tuesday’s game, Walker said, “we played a pretty good second half defensively, but our offense wasn’t as sharp as we would have liked. That being said, after having only six assists at halftime, we finished the game with 21. We played unselfish, we just weren’t sharp.”
Defensively, he said, “we had a little bit of an island feel because we couldn’t help off of their shooters. Our big guys cleaned up some mistakes inside the paint, and we did a pretty good job for most of the night keeping them outside settling for contested jumpers. Outside of giving up too many offensive rebounds, our defense did a pretty good job.”
According to game statistics, the Grizzlies connected on 33 of their 51 attempts from the field for 64.7 percent, seven of their 13 3-point attempts for 53.8 percent and 10 of their 21 free throws for 47.6 percent. They also had 34 rebounds, but only six came off the offensive glass. In addition to the 21 assists, the Grizzlies had five blocks and three steals.
Freshman guard Devaugntah Williams led the team in scoring with 22 points, followed by sophomore forward Keaton Jackson with 14, freshman guard Desmond Buerge 13, freshman guard Delvonte Pierre 11, and freshman forward Malik London 10. Jackson recorded a double-double with his 10 rebounds added to his point total. Freshman guard Isiah Rogers led the team in assists with six.
The Pioneers hit 18 of their 53 shots from the field for 34 percent, four of their 19 3-point attempts for 21.1 percent and 10 of their 14 free throws for 71.4 percent. They also grabbed a total of 26 rebounds, 10 of which came off the offensive glass. Alex Marzette was the only Pioneer scoring in double figures; he had 18 points.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb.htm or call the Grizzly Basketball office at 417-255-7993.