WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The 2015-16 basketball season has come to an end for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzlies. The team fell to the Moberly Area Community College Greyhounds 80-76 Tuesday night, Feb. 23, at Moberly in first-round action of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 16 Championship Tournament.
The Grizzlies finish the campaign with a 19-11 overall record, a 2-6 record in Region 16 regular season play, and a 3-5 record in Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) play. This was the Grizzlies’ first year competing in the MCCAC.
“I really enjoyed coaching this team,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We had hard workers who chose to collectively and individually get better day in and day out. Had we scored 8 more points – 4 to beat Three Rivers College at home and 4 to beat State Fair Community College at State Fair – our season would have changed dramatically, but we didn’t and we put ourselves in a tough spot.”
That tough spot was being seeded fifth in the tournament and having to play fourth-seeded Moberly twice just days apart. “I thought we responded well to the challenge of playing a team that had handled us on Friday back to back,” Walker said, referring to Friday’s 97-66 loss to the Greyhounds in West Plains. “This time, the difference was at the free throw line.”
Although the teams went to the line nearly the same number of times, the Greyhounds were more effective, hitting 19 of their 21 attempts for 90.5 percent. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, only hit 11 of their 18 attempts for 61.1 percent.
“We put them at the free throw line too many times, but give them credit, they went 19 of 21 as a team,” Walker said.
The Grizzlies also struggled to contain the Greyhounds’ attack from the 3-point line, especially in the second half. “We needed to do a better job of fighting through screens to challenge their threes in the second half. They got rolling from outside, and that hurt us,” Walker explained.
That roll cost the Grizzlies’ their 37-30 halftime lead and allowed the Greyhounds to out-score Missouri State-West Plains 50-39 in the second half to take the win.
Overall, the Grizzlies hit 26 of 55 shots from the field for 47.3 percent and 13 of 30 attempts from 3-point range for 43.3 percent. The Greyhounds went 26 of 57 from the field for 45.6 percent and nine of 24 from 3-point range for 37.5 percent.
The Greyhounds out-rebounded the Grizzlies 34-24. Both teams committed 13 turnovers and had one block each. The Grizzlies had 16 assists to the Greyhounds’ 14, and the Grizzlies recorded seven steals to the Greyhounds’ four.
Leading scorers for the Grizzlies were freshman guard Vonny Irvin with 22 points, freshman forward Devonte Campbell with 14 and freshman guard Jaelin Sanford with 12. The Greyhounds were led by Daniel Dzierzawski with 21 points, Cecil Williams and Leonard Harper-Baker each with 13, Jalen David with 12 and Rashard Lindsey with 11.
“This was a good group to coach, especially when we made our run down the stretch, and they deserve credit for being so,” Walker said. “I told them that one of the worst things about losing at Moberly was that we didn’t get to have practice Wednesday, and I really enjoyed practice with this group.”
“I also want to thank our sponsors this season one more time,” the coach added. “Without them, it would be difficult to have a program.”
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.