WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team picked up its first Region 16 win of the season Tuesday evening when it defeated State Fair Community College from Sedalia 94-81 in overtime at the West Plains Civic Center arena.
The Grizzlies are now 1-2 in region play and 10-12 overall.
“We’re still learning how to put teams away,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. “This group has to learn how to play with a lead. It’s shown up in the last two games in particular.”
The Grizzlies had a 6-point lead over region foe Three Rivers College in the second half of Saturday’s game in Poplar Bluff before falling to the Raiders in overtime, and Tuesday night, they let the Roadrunners come back from a 15-point deficit late in the second half to send the contest into overtime before mustering the win.
“We had the lead late, then it became a possession game,” Popp said. “It was very frustrating.” The Grizzlies turned the ball over five of their six possessions in that time frame, which allowed the Roadrunners to push the game into extra minutes.
Although he wasn’t pleased about going into overtime, Popp was happy with his team’s response. “I was happy with the way we came out in overtime. A lot of times, when you allow a team to come back and push you into overtime, the momentum has swung in their direction. But we came out and played the way we were supposed to,” he explained.
Knotted at 76-76 at the end of regulation, the Grizzlies outscored the Roadrunners 18-5, with 8 of those points coming from freshman forward Yannis Mendy. Mendy had a team-leading 20 points for the evening. Redshirt freshman guard Lane Duncan also had another good showing with 18 points for the game.
“The big fella came up big, and, Lane played well down the stretch,” Popp said of his two leading scorers. Freshman guard Marcus Blackwell also scored in double figures with 14 points.
The Grizzlies’ next game will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 against No. 7 Moberly Area Community College in Moberly. “Moberly is tough. They play hard and are very physical. Other teams in the region play loose and fast and want to speed up the game. Moberly wants it to be more of a grind, a physical game. It will test our toughness,” Popp said.
After a trip to State Fair Feb. 8 in Sedalia, the Grizzlies will return home Feb. 11 to host their annual homecoming game against Three Rivers. Their remaining home games are Feb. 21 against St. Louis Community College, Feb. 24 against Moberly and Feb. 27 against College of Faith Prep from West Memphis, Arkansas, the latter of which is a make-up game.
The Grizzlies will take a time out this weekend to be a part of the annual Trivia Night event benefitting Grizzly Athletics, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the civic center arena. Proceeds from the annual event go toward athletic department expenses. “It allows us to travel, recruit, everything necessary to make this program function,” Popp said of the event’s importance.
It’s not too late to sign up a team, he added. Go online to register.
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.