WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team will face State Fair Community College, Sedalia, Missouri, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center in the quarterfinals of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 16 Championship Tournament.
The Grizzlies (20-10 overall, 4-4 region) are seeded fourth in the tournament after losing to second seeded Three Rivers College (23-7, 6-2) 75-56 Thursday, Feb. 19, in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and third seeded Moberly (Missouri) Area Community College (21-9, 4-4) 69-52 Saturday, Feb. 21, in Joe Paul Evans Arena. State Fair (4-23, 0-8) is seeded fifth.
The winner of Tuesday’s contest will advance to a 6 p.m. semifinal game Friday, Feb. 27, against top seed Mineral Area College (24-3, 6-2) at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri. The championship is set for 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Ozark Christian College.
Since Tuesday’s game is a post-season event, there will be no advance ticket sales, officials said. All tickets will be sold at the door.
Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said a stagnant offense proved to be the Grizzlies’ undoing Saturday against Moberly. “We were so stagnant offensively that we couldn’t get any easy baskets. We couldn’t get the ball moving. We tried to get easy shots off one pass, but at this time of the year, each team knows their opponents well enough that the ball has to change sides on the floor several times to get those easy shots,” he explained.
The stagnation showed in the team’s shooting statistics. The Grizzlies connected on just 16 of their 44 shots from the field for 36.4 percent, five of 22 shots from 3-point range for 22.7 percent, and 15 of 22 shots from the free throw line for 68.2 percent. Sophomore guard Craig Eubanks was the only Grizzly scoring in double figures with 17 points.
The Grizzlies also recorded 23 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals, seven blocks and 20 turnovers.
Moberly hit 21 of 56 shots from the field for 37.5 percent, six of 19 shots from 3-point range for 31.6 percent and 21 of 22 shots from the free throw line for 95.5 percent. Leading scorers were Daniel Dzierzawski with 16 points, Gustavs Puhovs and Rashad Lindsey each with 12, and Travon Williams with 10.
The Greyhounds also recorded 30 rebounds, nine assists, eight steals and 13 turnovers.
“The difference in the game can be found in the fact that they were 21 of 22 from the free throw line, and we had 20 turnovers,” Walker said.
A stagnant offense also cost the Grizzlies their game against the Three Rivers Raiders. “We didn’t move the ball well enough, and we didn’t attack as much as we needed to inside,” he explained. “None of our baskets were easy. We had too many possessions that were one pass and a shot.
“We didn’t play that poorly defensively. We took turns holding each other scoreless, but they ended up getting more easy baskets than we did,” he added.
The Grizzlies hit 18 of 60 shots from the field for 30 percent, five of 28 attempts from 3-point range for 17.9 percent and 15 of 19 shots from the free throw line for 78.9 percent. Leading scorers were freshman forward Terrel Martin-Garcia, who had 16 points, and freshman guard Dazhonetae Bennett with 11. The Grizzlies also recorded 29 rebounds, nine assists, six steals, three blocks and 15 turnovers.
“Terrel had a nice game, and Dazhonetae got right into double figures in his first game back, but most of their points were manufactured from sets, as evidenced by only having nine assists for the game,” Walker said.
The Raiders were 27 of 52 from the field for 51.9 percent, four of 13 from 3-point range for 30.8 percent and 17 of 29 from the free throw line for 58.6 percent. Leading scorers were Jemeereo Spain with 18 points, Brian Patterson and Justas Furmanavicius each with 13, and Jake Coddington with 10. The Raiders also recorded 38 rebounds, 18 assists, five steals, four blocks and 14 turnovers.
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.