ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team picked up a win Wednesday, Feb. 3, in its last road game of the season, defeating St. Louis Community College 75-53 in St. Louis. They are now 16-9 overall, 1-5 in Region 16 and 3-5 in Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) play.
“I was worried about this game,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We had already defeated St. Louis at home by 6, so there was a chance for a let-down because of that. In addition, St. Louis has played everyone extremely tough. They have won nine of their last 12 games, and they were coming off a 21-point win over Wentworth Military Academy. They execute on the offensive end at a very high level.”
But Walker did not need to worry because the Grizzly defense held tough, especially in the second half when it kept St. Louis scoreless for the first seven minutes. That allowed the Grizzlies to go on a 20-0 scoring run.
“We had a great start to the second half on both ends of the floor,” Walker said. “We got started by forcing a shot clock violation on their first possession and that led to nine stops in a row. We attacked inside and got some easy baskets, and that led to wide open shots from outside.”
In the second half alone, the Grizzlies hit 50 percent of their shots from the field and 57 percent of their 3-point attempts. For the game, the Grizzlies hit 29 of 66 shots from field for 43.9 percent, seven of 21 3-point attempts for 33.3 percent and 10 of 12 shots from the free throw line for 83.3 percent. The Grizzlies also grabbed 36 rebounds, dished out seven assists, committed eight turnovers, blocked two shots and recorded 11 steals. Leading scorers were freshman forwards Devonte Campbell with 15 points and Mike Parks, Jr., with 13 points, and freshman guard Antonio Winn with 10.
St. Louis hit 25 of 53 shots from the field for 41.5 percent, eight of 25 attempts from 3-point range for 32 percent and one of two free throw attempts for 50 percent. The team also had 35 rebounds, nine assists, 15 turnovers, three blocks and five steals. Leading scorers were Nate Rigmaiden with 15 points and Sean Rigmaiden with 13.
“The only thing I can really say that went poorly in this game was the last two minutes of the first half,” Walker said. “We got greedy with our shot selection, and they got us out of transition.” The result was a 10-1 run by St. Louis in the last two minutes of the first half that allowed them to narrow the Grizzlies’ 15-point advantage to just 6 going into the halftime break.
“We have to continue to improve,” the coach stressed. “The goal is always to be playing our best basketball in February and March. We have to keep taking steps and striving for that.”
The Grizzlies will close out the regular season at home by hosting College of Faith, West Memphis, Arkansas, Saturday, Feb. 6, at Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center. On Feb. 9, Region 16 rival State Fair Community College, Sedalia, comes to town, and on Feb. 15, the Grizzlies will host Faith Preparatory Academy, also from West Memphis, Arkansas. The final game of the season will be Feb. 19 against Region 16 rival Moberly Area Community College from Moberly. The team’s sophomores will be honored at this game.
“The next six days are crucial, with our game Saturday against College of Faith, then our next chance with State Fair,” Walker said. “Good teams get better late in the year. We are taking steps in that direction.”
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website or call the Grizzly Basketball office at 417-255-7993. Complete game statistics can be found here.