WEST PLAINS, Mo. – A strong total team effort helped the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team pick up a key 82-70 win on the road Tuesday evening, Nov. 18, against Redlands Community College in El Reno, Oklahoma.

“This was a great team road win,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We had different guys step up both offensively and defensively in different parts of the game. Since we’re pretty young, I’m not sure these guys know what they accomplished. Redlands soundly defeated the 15th ranked team in the nation on the road and really hadn’t been touched since. We went to their place and held them to their lowest point total of the season.”

The game stayed tight in the first half. Neither team led by more than 5 points in the half, and the lead changed 12 times during the period before they knotted the score at 39-39 at halftime. Although Redlands jumped out to an early lead in the second half, a 3-point shot by freshman forward Terrel Martin-Garcia put the Grizzlies up 45-44 at the 17:42 mark, and the Grizzlies continued build their advantage for the remainder of the game, using great defense to shut down Redlands’ scoring for nine minutes during the period.

“We held a team averaging 95 points a game scoreless for nine minutes of the second half. That’s a huge accomplishment for any team at any level,” Walker said. “We didn’t play poorly in the first half, but they were playing with a lot of confidence. We had to weather that storm, and we did.”

The Grizzlies’ ability to score in transition and off second chance points played a key role in the win. The Grizzlies scored 14 points in transition compared to Redlands’ 2 and 20 second chance points to Redlands’ 6.

“We had a lot more success than they did in transition and in second chance points,” Walker said. “We told the team before the game that we had to keep them out of transition, and we had to limit their second chance points. We did a good job at both and were able to put together a great win.”

Overall, the Grizzlies hit 26 of 64 shots from the field for 40.6 percent, eight of 27 3-point attempts for 29.6 percent and 22 of 28 free throws for 78.6 percent. They also had 40 rebounds (13 offensive), 13 assists, 17 turnovers, eight blocks and 12 steals.

Leading the way was sophomore guard Jameel Moore, who had 22 points, two rebounds and four assists. Martin-Garcia had 19 points, nine rebounds (two offensive), one assist and two blocks. Freshman guard Chris Kouakou added 11 points. Also noteworthy were the blocks made by freshman forward Ngor Barnaba and sophomore forward Desmond Rorie, both of whom had two.

Redlands connected on 26 of 67 attempts from the field for 37.3 percent, nine of 26 3-point attempts for 34.6 percent and 11 of 20 free throws for 55 percent. The team also recorded 37 rebounds (15 offensive), 16 assists and 18 turnovers. Leading scorers were Jerry Owens with 18 points, and Daniel Hurtt 11.

The Grizzlies return to the road Saturday, Nov. 22, to face Eastern Oklahoma State College in a 3 p.m. contest in Wilburton. “We have to keep pushing forward,” Walker said. “We have a tough Eastern Oklahoma team on Saturday. Our fans will remember their coach, Scott Edgar, from his days as the head coach at Southeast Missouri State University and as an assistant at the University of Arkansas when Nolan Richardson was the head coach.”

For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb.htm or call the Grizzly Basketball office at 417-255-7993. Complete game statistics can be found at http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2014-15/div1/teams/missouristateuniversitywestplains.