MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team’s record now stands at 5-5 after a heartbreaking 77-75 overtime loss to seventh-ranked Southwest Tennessee Community College Tuesday night in Memphis, Tennessee.
“It was definitely a heart breaker,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. “We weren’t ourselves early. We weren’t the team we’ve been all year. Too much individual play, not enough team. But we corrected it and got things together and really fought to get back from a double-digit deficit in the first half. We got the stops we needed to give ourselves a chance in the end.”
By the end of the first half, the Grizzlies had narrowed the Saluqis’ lead to 36-29, and they outscored Southwest Tennessee 35-28 in the second to force overtime. The teams stayed neck-and-neck in overtime until the Saluqis canned a guarded floater with just 1.8 seconds remaining to take the game.
“We stepped up defensively and put ourselves in a position to get what would have been a big road win, but in the end, they made one more basket than we did,” Popp said. “They are very good. I look forward to another chance to see them at home in January.”
The Grizzlies also got one of their players back from injury, and it made a huge difference. Freshman guard Darnell Butler, who returned to practice this week after being sidelined by injury since Nov. 12, led team in scoring with 21 points. “He came up huge for us. He scored all but two of our points in overtime,” the coach said.
Those other 2 points were scored by freshman forward Yannis Mendy, who tallied a total of 11 points for the game and led the team in rebounds with 14, including eight off the offensive glass. “Yannis played very well and got some big offensive rebounds for us late in the game,” Popp said.
Freshman point guard Quinton Gray added 13 points and recorded four assists against one turnover, and sophomore forward Stefan Lakic added 15 points to the scoreboard.
The Saluqis were led by Zavian Jackson with 25 points and Brandon Key with 16.
The Grizzlies have very little time to nurse their wounds from Tuesday night, as they will hit the road again this week for a 6 p.m. game Thursday against Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was changed to accommodate postseason action by Northwest Mississippi’s football team, Popp said.
With a 6-1 record, the coach is expecting another tough challenge for the Grizzlies, but he knows they will be up for it. “Our guys have not backed down all year. We’ve had three games that came down to one possession against the No. 13 team (Neosho County Community College Nov. 9), the No. 7 team and at Iowa Western Community College, another very good team. We’ve been very close. We’ve got to find ways to finish off games. I can question our guys’ toughness. They don’t back down from anyone.”
The Grizzlies entered Tuesday’s contest against Southwest Tennessee after defeating Life Prep Academy, Wichita, Kansas, 88-60 Nov. 23 and Link Year Prep Academy, Branson, 105-89 Nov. 24 at the Midwest Bone and Joint Classic hosted by Moberly Area Community College in Moberly.
“We came off a weekend where we felt we got better, especially in Saturday’s game against a very talented Link Year Prep,” Popp said. “They have three D1 commits, and they have beaten several junior colleges and played Moberly to the wire the night before. The guys were ready and got the job done. The weekend was very encouraging because we got better, especially on the defensive end, which showed last night.”
Lakic led the Grizzlies in scoring against Link Year with 24 points. He was followed by freshman guard Isaiah Brown with 20, freshman guard D’Shawnn Coleman with 15, and Gray and redshirt freshman point guard Ricky Torres with 11 points each.
Redshirt freshman guard Lane Duncan led the Grizzlies in scoring against Life Prep with 23 points. He was followed by Torres with 12 and Mendy and sophomore guard Dwayne Orija with 11 points each.
On Nov. 22, the Grizzlies fell to OnPoint Hoops 102-95 at the West Plains Civic Center.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website or call 417-255-7991. Complete box scores of the games can be found online, as well.