WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team added another mark to the win column Saturday night, Feb. 7, when they defeated College of Faith, West Memphis, Arkansas, 116-74, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The win boosts the Grizzlies’ overall season record to 19-8. Their Region 16 record remains at 3-2.
The Grizzlies were scheduled to play Quakerdale Promise Academy from New Providence, Iowa, on Saturday, but Quakerdale could not field a complete team for the game, so officials at College of Faith stepped in at the last minute to fill the schedule void, Grizzly Head Coach Yancey Walker explained.
“First, I need to say two big thank yous. I want to thank the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety for sponsoring the game. Second, I want to thank College of Faith for stepping up to replace Quakerdale on very short notice. We are very appreciative of both,” Walker said.
As for the game itself, the Grizzlies found themselves in a competitive contest in the first half and had to come back from a 7-point deficit to take a 49-38 advantage into the halftime break. The second half, however, proved to be all Grizzlies, as they outscored College of Faith 67-36 to seal the win.
“The first half created some challenges because they played so small,” Walker said. “We had our big men defending on the perimeter, but I felt like they did a pretty good job. What took some adjusting to was how deep they were shooting the ball. We gave up some open looks from six to eight feet behind the 3-point line. As a rule, those shots don’t beat teams. We did a much better in the second half holding them to 25 percent shooting from the three.”
Offensively, Walker said the Grizzlies did pretty well in all areas of the game. “We had 36 assists on 45 baskets, and even though we took a lot of threes, they were all good shots. More to the point, we had six guys in double figures.
“I also was very proud of how well we attacked inside and hit the offensive glass,” he continued. “Shooting 56 percent and grabbing 19 offensive rebounds is an accomplishment. We had 24 second chance points and 52 points in the paint.”
Statistics show the Grizzlies connected on 45 of 81 attempts from the field for 55.6 percent, 13 of 31 shots from 3-point range for 41.9 percent and 13 of 17 shots from the free throw line for 76.5 percent. They also had 49 rebounds, 36 assists, five steals, four blocks and 12 turnovers.
Leading scorers were freshman forward Terrel Martin-Garcia with 22 points, freshman guard Keeton Tennison 20 points, freshman guard Jahir Cabeza 18, sophomore guard Jameel Moore 15, freshman forward Ngor Barnaba 14 and freshman guard Malik James 10. Cabeza added 10 rebounds to go with his point total for a double-double performance.
College of Faith connected on 27 of 63 shots from the field for 42.9 percent, 12 of 33 attempts from 3-point range for 36.4 percent and eight of 17 free throws for 47.1 percent. They also had 22 rebounds, 16 assists, five steals, one block and 17 turnovers. Leading scorers were Tevin Lewis with 23 points, C.J. Maclin 14 and Ike Griffin 12.
The Grizzlies return to Region 16 play this week. They will face State Fair Community College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Sedalia, Missouri.
Walker reminded fans to tune into the new “Above the Rim” streaming live video segment at 10 a.m. every Monday at www.ihigh.com/msuwestplains to learn the latest news on the Grizzlies as they continue their march through the 2014-15 season. Those who cannot tune in live can view the segment later in the archives of the website. Fans also may ask Walker questions through Twitter by using the hashtag #GrizzlyTalk, or they may e-mail questions to AboveTheRim@MissouriState.edu.
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.