WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team is hoping to close out the fall semester with a win Tuesday, Dec. 17, when they host Highland Community College, Highland, Kan., in the Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.

The Grizzlies will go into the contest with a 10-6 record after splitting their games this past weekend in the Grizzly Holiday Classic at the civic center.  On Friday, Dec. 13, the Grizzlies defeated Quakerdale Prep, New Providence, Iowa, 88-83, but dropped a heart-breaker Saturday, Dec. 14, to ninth ranked New Mexico Junior College of Hobbs 66-64.

“I told the guys that there were no moral victories, but that I was very proud of them,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said of the loss.  “This is the fourth top 20 team we’ve played this year, and three of them were in the top 10.  These experiences will pay off in Region 16 play.”

The Grizzlies held a 40-28 advantage over New Mexico at halftime, but turnovers early in the second period and a rebounding disadvantage allowed New Mexico to come back for the win.

“The game was pretty similar for both teams,” Walker said.  “It was a tough game that was competitive on both sides.  Both teams played pretty well, and we kept each other in check for most of the night.  Statistically, the difference was their rebounding advantage.  If we would have kept Kenrich Williams off the glass, we would have won because we did everything else pretty well.”

Williams had 12 of his teams 41 rebounds for the night, along with 16 points.  The Grizzlies could muster only 24 grabs for the evening.

“As far as the flow of the game, the difference was those first eight to 10 possessions after halftime,” Walker added.  “We turned it over too much and came away with empty possessions.”

The Grizzlies were led on the scoreboard by freshman guard Jeremiah Jackson with 19 points, followed by sophomore guards Devaugntah Williams with 14 points and Arroyo Edwards with 12.  They also got help from redshirt freshman forward Ed Seay, Jr., and freshman forward Lukasz Bonarek, each of whom scored 8 points.

Kenrich Williams led New Mexico in scoring with 16 points, followed by Chris Boucher with 13.  Jeff Newberry added 9 and Nick Billingsley 8.

On Friday, the Grizzlies started off strong against Quakerdale and went into the break with a 45-28 lead, but foul trouble and turnovers allowed Quakerdale to make it a close contest in the second half.

“We were more efficient in the first half, outside of our free throw shooting and our turnovers,” Walker said.  “Our big guys were eight of 11 from the field for 23 points.  The second half we had a little bit of foul trouble, and that allowed them to get to the basket more frequently.  We also were very careless with the ball and had 10 turnovers for the period.

“What helped immensely was our two sophomore guards going six of eight from the field and 17 of 21 from the free throw line,” the coach added.  “By himself, Arroyo was 13 of 17 from the line and four of five from the field.  He got a couple of looks from our offense, but we also used some sets to get him some touches.  He took advantage of them and either scored or shot free throws.  What was truly amazing and something that is overlooked is that, statistically, Arroyo had 23 points on eight shots!”

Edwards was the Grizzlies’ leading scorer in the contest with those 23 points.  He was followed by Devaugntah Williams with 20 points and Jamison with 16.  Jamison recorded a double-double for the evening with 16 rebounds.  Seay and Bonarek each added 8.

Quakerdale was led by Chris Galbreath with 33 points, Thomas Wilder 13 and Taishaun Johnson with 12.

“It’s hard to finish a team like Quakerdale off,” Walker said.  “They just put their heads down and go offensively.  We have to get better at defending late in games and taking care of the ball.”

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