WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team will go into its final game of the regular season on a two-game winning streak after defeating College of Faith of West Memphis, Ark., 109-81 Tuesday night, Feb. 18, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies, now 18-11, will close out the regular season Saturday, Feb. 22, at home against Moberly Area Community College of Moberly, Mo., in a key Region 16 contest. The Grizzlies are currently third in the region with a 3-4 record, while the Greyhounds, 21-7 overall, are ranked second with a 5-2 record. Final seedings and pairings for the Region 16 postseason tournament will be announced next week.
The Grizzlies started slow Tuesday night against College of Faith, but they found their footing in the second half to secure the win.
“We were sluggish in the first half,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We had 10 turnovers, and we weren’t shooting well from the free throw line.” The Grizzlies only hit 13 of 21 attempts from the charity stripe the first period.
“We played better defensively in the second half, and we were able to get some easy baskets because of it,” Walker said. “Offensively, we took good shots and shared the ball well. We took advantage of our size and our athleticism much better as the game progressed.”
The Grizzlies had 34 assists on 41 baskets and scored 60 points in the paint and 14 points in transition, the coach pointed out.
Freshman forward Justin Jamison turned in another double-double performance, recording 20 points and 10 rebounds for the night. He also had four blocks. Sophomore guard Arroyo Edwards also had a double-double performance, scoring 18 points and dishing out 11 assists.
Sophomore guard Devaugntah Williams added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists to the stat sheet, and freshman guard Jeremiah Jackson had 16 points, five rebounds and six assists for the night. Redshirt freshman forward Ed Seay rounded out the Grizzlies’ leading scorers for the evening with 15 points. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
Walker also noted the play of freshman guard Craig Eubanks, who had 9 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
College of Faith was led on the scoreboard by Miko Campbell with 30 points and Derrick Richards with 20.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball team, including complete statistics from the games, visit wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb/.