WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The 2013-14 Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team got off to a strong start this past weekend, winning both games in the Grizzly Tip-Off Classic Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2, in the Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.

The Grizzlies defeated Otero Junior College, La Junta, Colo., 94-93 Friday night and Snead State Community College, Boaz, Ala., 89-73 Saturday evening.  They will host Trinity Valley Community College, Athens, Texas, at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at the civic center.

“Overall, I was pleased with the opening weekend,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said.  “We are like everyone else; we have to get better in many areas to get to the level we’d like to get to.  I thought our depth was a weapon in both games.  We survived foul trouble against Otero, and we were able to get the right defensive group in against Snead.”

Walker expected a close contest with Otero, and the game lived up to his expectations.  “This was a hard-fought game.  We did a pretty good job controlling it for most of the night.  There were a few stretches where they outplayed us, but we were able to make enough plays to win.  We also took good care of the basketball.”

The Grizzlies held a 48-41 advantage at half, but Otero came back to give the Grizzlies everything they could handle.  “We were able to hold on by making free throws down the stretch.  We showed our depth in this game by having four guys in double figures and two with 9 points each.”

Freshman guard Jameel Moore led the Grizzlies in scoring with 22 points, followed by sophomore guard Jonathan Tshibuy with 16, freshman guard Jeremiah Jackson 12, freshman forward Justin Jamison 11, and sophomore guard Arroyo Edwards and redshirt freshman forward Ed Seay, Jr., each with 9.

The Grizzlies recorded 13 assists on 25 baskets and only committed seven turnovers.  Freshman guard Craig Eubanks led the Grizzlies in assists with four.  From the free throw line, the team shot 70.9 percent, hitting 39 of their 55 tosses.  Otero had 39 free throw attempts total.  Leading scorers for Otero were Chris Golden with 31 points and Jalen Little with 28.

On the boards, the Grizzlies were led by sophomore forward Malik London with nine rebounds.  Seay, Jamison and Eubanks each had five.  London also had two blocks.  As a team, the Grizzlies collected 39 rebounds, 14 offensive and 25 defensive.

“We have to do a better job of rebounding on the defensive end of the floor,” Walker said.  “We gave up an offensive rebound on almost 32 percent of their misses.  A couple of those came on free throw rebounds, and we can’t allow that.”

Although the Grizzlies defeated Snead State by 16 points, it wasn’t an easy victory.  “This game presented some problems because of the way Snead plays.  They run a Princeton style offense with a lot of back door cuts and fake screens.  With only a day to completely focus on their patterns and tendencies, I thought we guarded it pretty well for most of the game,” Walker said.  “We were a little slow getting started, but we put some stops together and took advantage of our size inside.  That also opened up some good looks for us on the outside.”

The Grizzlies shot 55 percent from the field, 55 percent from 3-point range and 70.6 percent from the free throw line.  They were led on the scoreboard by Edwards with 20 points, followed by Seay with 14, Tshibuy 13 and Moore 11.

They also recorded 27 assists on 33 baskets and committed 15 turnovers.  Seay and Tshibuy led the Grizzlies on the boards with eight rebounds apiece.  Four of Seay’s came off the offensive glass, while three of Tshibuy’s were offensive.  As a team, the Grizzlies grabbed 17 of their 39 rebounds off the offensive glass.

Snead State was led in scoring by Demarcus Threatt with 27 points, followed by Jace Haggermaker with 13, Aaron Troup 12 and Ethan Gillis 10.  The team also recorded 22 assists on 27 baskets and only committed seven turnovers.

In other tournament action, North Iowa Area Community College, Mason City, defeated Snead State 90-81 Friday and fell to Otero 96-73 Saturday.

Walker praised the Grizzly fans who attended.  “Our crowds were outstanding.  Thanks to all who came out and supported us.  We also want to thank Holiday Inn Express for sponsoring our classic.  This weekend was a testimony to the support our community gives to our program,” the coach said.

He also congratulated the Grizzly Volleyball team on its 13th Region 16 Championship, won earlier Saturday at the civic center.

For more information about the Grizzly Basketball team, including complete statistics from the games, visit wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb/.