WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team will take a 9-3 record into its contest against Cowley College of Arkansas City, Kansas, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the Joe Paul Evans Arena in the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies defeated Cowley 93-77 Nov. 25 in Arkansas City, then split their games in the Grizzly Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend at the civic center. They defeated Snead State Community College, Boaz, Alabama, 84-61 Friday, Nov. 28, but fell to undefeated Cloud County Community College, Concordia, Kansas, 64-72 Saturday, Nov. 29.
Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said Saturday’s loss was heartbreaking. “Defensively, we did enough to win the game. (Cloud County) is averaging over 96 points a game, and we held them to 72. Our biggest problem was on the offensive side of the ball. We were hunting jump shots and didn’t attack well enough. Even that being said, when our best 3-point shooters combine to make two threes, it is going to be a tough night,” he said.
“They beat us in the paint (34-22) and in transition (13-2),” he added. “We didn’t get out and run as well as we usually do. It just boils down to the fact that we didn’t attack well enough. We held them in check on the boards, but we didn’t do as well in the second half of keeping them out of the paint and off the free throw line.”
Overall, the Grizzlies shot 21 of 67 from the field for 31.3 percent, six of 30 from 3-point range for 20 percent and 16 of 17 from the free throw line for 94 percent. They also recorded 36 rebounds (11 offensive), 15 assists, 16 turnovers, five blocks and three steals. Leading scorers were sophomore guard Jameel Moore with 14 points, followed by sophomore guard Craig Eubanks with 13, and freshman forwards Ngor Barnaba and Terrel Martin-Garcia each with 11.
Cloud County hit 25 of 64 shots from the field for 39.1 percent, six of 15 3-point attempts for 40 percent and 16 of 25 free throws for 64 percent. The team also recorded 43 rebounds (11 offensive), 11 assists and 17 turnovers. Leading scorers were Ridell Cammidge with 22 points, Demonte Ojinnaka 11 and Isaiah Hicks 10.
“To take a step back, this was a pretty good NJCAA game,” Walker said. “Both teams defended well, and if we hit 30 percent from the three instead of 20 percent, it is probably a different game.”
In Saturday’s 5 p.m. game, Quakerdale Promise Academy, New Providence, Iowa, defeated Snead State 78-72. Lindsey Hunter was Quakerdale’s leading scorer with 18 points, while Chad Watkins paced Snead State with 21.
Walker felt the Grizzlies had a better night against Snead State Friday. “This game was a little bit of an unknown coming in. Snead runs all of their Princeton actions with the flair screens and back door cuts, but I felt like we did a pretty good job defensively against them. Our advantage was simply points in the paint and in transition. We outscored them by 26 points in those two areas. It also was nice because all but two guys scored in the game,” he said.
Overall, the Grizzlies hit 34 of 62 shots from the field for 54.8 percent, nine of 23 3-point attempts for 39.1 percent and seven of 12 free throws for 58.3 percent. They also recorded 35 rebounds (eight offensive), 25 assists, 15 turnovers and 15 steals. Leading scorers were Barnaba with 22 points, freshman guard Dazhonetae Bennett 12 and Eubanks 10.
Snead State hit 23 of 64 shots from the field for 35.9 percent, seven of 31 3-point attempts for 22.6 percent and eight of 12 free throws for 66.7 percent. The team also had 31 rebounds (13 offensive, 12 assists, five steals and 20 turnovers. Watkins led the team in scoring with 18 points.
In Friday’s 5 p.m. contest, Cloud County defeated Quakerdale Prep 111-67. Leading scorers were Cardarius Williams, who scored 16 points for Cloud County, and Andrew Milbrandt, who scored 10 for Quakerdale.
Walker said he would like to thank The Shoe Factory Lofts for sponsoring the tournament and the fans who attended the games.
Against Cowley Nov. 25, the Grizzlies used their 3-point attack to help garner the win. The Grizzlies outscored Cowley 33-15 from behind the arc and held Cowley scoreless for a total of nine minutes in the first half.
“We didn’t have quite the same thing in the second half, but we broke it open for good with a three-and-a-half-minute defensive run,” Walker said. “This team has been able to do that with quite a bit of consistency this season, and that has allowed us several opportunities in transition.”
Overall, the Grizzlies hit 33 of 63 shots from the field for 52.4 percent, 11 of 23 3-point shots for 47.8 percent and 16 of 19 free throws for 84.2 percent. They also recorded 41 rebounds (17 offensive), 14 assists, 18 turnovers, seven blocks and seven steals. Leading scorers were Bennett with 20 points, Martin-Garcia 19, and Eubanks and Moore with 11 points each. Martin-Garcia and Moore recorded double-doubles for the evening with their 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Cowley hit 30 of 67 shots from the field for 44.8 percent, five of 18 3-point attempts for 27.8 percent and 12 of 17 free throws for 70.6 percent. The team also recorded 29 rebounds (12 offensive), 12 assists , 15 turnovers and seven steals. Leading scorers were Shyheid Petteway with 15 points, Soufiyaqne Diakite 11, and Terrell Gundy and Mason Loewen each with 10.
Walker said he hopes to see everyone at Tuesday’s rematch with Cowley. “This will be a tough game because of such a short turnaround with Cowley,” he explained.
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. Complete game statistics can be found at http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2014-15/div1/teams/missouristateuniversitywestplains.