WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team’s hopes to gain some ground in the Region 16 regular season race took a heart-breaking turn Tuesday night, Feb. 11, when they fell to the region leaders, the State Fair Community College Roadrunners of Sedalia, Mo., 91-76 at the Joe Paul Evans Arena in the West Plains Civic Center.
The loss leaves the Grizzlies with a 16-11 overall record and a 2-4 region record with just two region games remaining in the regular season. State Fair is now 19-6 overall and 6-0 in region play with a firm grip on the top spot in the region rankings. The Grizzlies are third behind Moberly Area Community College (21-6 overall, 5-1 region) of Moberly, Mo. Mineral Area College (14-12, 2-5) of Park Hills, Mo., is fourth, and Three Rivers College (15-11, 1-6) of Poplar Bluff, Mo., is fifth.
“This was a heartbreaking loss for our team,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We needed a win for seeding (in the region’s postseason tournament) and, honestly, probably for some confidence right now. We’re on opposite ends of the spectrum from State Fair. We have struggled lately, and they have won nine in a row.”
The much-needed win looked promising in the first half, when the Grizzlies went up by as much as 12 points midway through the period, but the Roadrunners took advantage of several turnovers by the Grizzlies and free throw opportunities late in the period to take a 47-44 lead into the halftime break. “We had control of the game early, but we were not able to overcome more misfortune,” Walker said.
The Grizzlies were able to keep the game close through the first half of the second period, but continued miscues and hot shooting by the Roadrunners allowed them to pull away for the win. “We battled in the second half and kept it close, but we did not guard them from the 3-point line well enough,” Walker said. “We also struggled to rebound defensively, and when we did rebound defensively, we had several turnovers caused by them knocking the ball away or stealing the outlet pass.”
For the game, the Grizzlies connected on 30 of 52 shots from the field for 57.7 percent, six of 16 attempts from 3-point range for 37.5 percent, and 10 of 14 shots from the free throw line for 71.4 percent. They also had 25 rebounds, 13 turnovers and 13 assists.
Leading scorers were sophomore guard Arroyo Edwards and freshman guard Jeremiah Jackson, each with 16 points, and freshman forward Justin Jamison, sophomore guard Devaugntah Williams and redshirt freshman forward Ed Seay each with 11 points.
The Roadrunners connected on 38 of 73 shots from the field for 52.1 percent, nine of 21 attempts from 3-point range for 42.9 percent, and six of seven free throw attempts for 85.7 percent. They collected 29 rebounds, dished out 21 assists and coughed up six turnovers.
Leading scorers were Kevin Punter with 28 points, Kedar Edwards with 27, Joe Thomasson 13, and Dondre Alexander 11.
The Grizzlies will go on the road one more time this regular season to face Three Rivers at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Bess Activity Center in Poplar Bluff. Grizzly fans who would like to attend the game can purchase tickets at the door that evening, university officials said.
The Grizzlies will then return home for their final two games of the regular season – Feb. 18 against God’s Academy from Dallas, Texas, and Feb. 22 against Moberly. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. in the Joe Paul Evans Arena at the civic center.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball team, including complete statistics from the games, visit wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb/.