POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – A late, second-half charge almost upset the No. 1 junior college basketball team in the nation Saturday night, Feb. 12.

Instead, the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzlies held their ground against Region 16 arch rival Three Rivers Community College and won key region contest 84-77 at the Bess

Activity Center on Three Rivers’ campus in Poplar Bluff.

The win ups the Grizzlies’ overall season record to 24-2 and keeps their Region 16 record unblemished at 5-0.
“We knew that Three Rivers would not give up.  We knew they would make a run, and that is a credit to them.  As a credit to us, though, we never panicked, and when it was time to make a play, we did,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said.

The Grizzlies, who had led the Raiders by as much as 18 points earlier in the second half, found themselves knotted with their opponents at 73-73 with 2:25 remaining in the game.  But an 11-4 run that included key three-pointers by sophomores Lonnie Hayes, Jr., and Teddy Simniok finally helped the team put the Raiders away for good.

“We didn’t play very well defensively in the second half,” Walker said.  “We gave up way too many offensive rebounds, and there were a few times that we didn’t get matched up or we didn’t rotate behind the post double team; however, we did defend the three-point line pretty well.”

In fact, the Raiders only hit one of 21 three-point attempts for the night, and the one they did hit tied the game at 73 all.  Overall, they shot 32 of 72 from the field for 44 percent and 12 of 22 from the free throw line for 55 percent.  They also recorded 15 assists, 16 turnovers, nine steals and 42 rebounds.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, hit 28 of 53 shots from the field for 53 percent, seven of 17 three-point attempts for 41 percent and 21 of 41 free throw attempts for 51 percent.  They also recorded 16 assists, 21 turnovers, eight steals, 10 offensive rebounds and 34 total rebounds.

“Our free throw shooting in this game was frustrating for everyone,” Walker said.  “Before the game, we were shooting 68 percent from the line as a team.  If we make 68 percent of our free throws in the Three Rivers game, it would have been a double digit win.”

Hayes was the team’s leading scorer with 32 points, which included 12 points off successful three pointers and 11 successful free throws on 13 attempts.  He was followed by Simniok with 15 points, sophomore Travis Wilkins with 14 points and sophomore Quinton Pippen with 10.  Simniok hit five of his six field goal attempts, and Wilkins was six of eight from the field.

Raider Tarius Johnson led all scorers with 36 points, and Elgin Lee added 13 more for Three Rivers.

The Grizzlies will travel to Sedalia, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 16, for a 7:30 p.m. rematch with State Fair Community College, then they will return home to host Arkansas Baptist College, Little Rock, Ark., in a 7 p.m. game Saturday, Feb. 19, at the West Plains Civic Center.

“We are just now getting to where we have our entire team back, so we still haven’t peaked,” Walker said.  “We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve played well enough to win.  Even though it is late February, we have a chance to make at least one more jump in our level of play going into the last month of the season.”
UPCOMING BAND PERFORMANCES

University officials offered updated information concerning upcoming performances by area bands at the remaining Grizzly Basketball home games.  The Liberty Jazz Band from Mtn. View-Birch Tree Liberty High School, scheduled to play at the Feb. 1 game against Mineral Area College that was postponed due to the weather, will be on hand to play for the game’s rescheduled date, Feb. 22.  The Gainesville High School band, however, will not play at Saturday’s game against Arkansas Baptist.  School officials explained the band has not been able to prepare for the performance due to the number of snow days that kept the school closed.

For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website at http://www.wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb.htm or call the Grizzly Basketball office at 417-255-7993.