PARK HILLS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team opened its Region 16 schedule Saturday, Jan. 10, against Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Missouri, but the outcome wasn’t what they had hoped.
The Grizzlies fell to the Cardinals 78-61, dropping their overall season record to 14-7 and their region record to 0-1. The Cardinals, meanwhile, are now 19-1 on the season and 2-0 in region play.
“We told the team before the game that, every time we play Mineral Area, no matter what their record is or what our record is, the game is going to come down to a possession when someone will either get a defensive stop or make a big shot to push his team on to a win,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We missed our opportunity to do that by missing three wide open shots in a row when we got the lead down to 6 points in the second half. At that point, they spread the lead back out, and we couldn’t recover.”
The Grizzlies kept pace with the Cardinals early in the contest, and although the Cardinals went on scoring runs in the first half, the Grizzlies answered and were only down 31-22 at the break.
“To beat Mineral Area, you have to eliminate their runs, and we were okay in the first half, but we didn’t accomplish that in the second half,” Walker said. “Going into halftime, we actually felt pretty fortunate. We had missed nine shots in the paint, and we missed seven free throws. As a team, we shot over 70 percent from the free throw line, but our good free throw shooters were missing their shots.”
The Grizzlies played catch-up throughout most of the second half, and at one point they had moved within striking distance, but turnovers and an inability to convert at the free throw line kept the Grizzlies from making up the deficit.
“We were a bit on our heels to start the second half, and they built the lead,” Walker said. “We still got it back to a two possession game and had our chances.
“The game boiled down to missed opportunities, though,” he continued. “We shot 50 percent from the free throw line and had 25 turnovers. Even our sure-handed guys were turning the ball over. That game had more possessions than our games normally have, but that was way too many empty possessions.”
Overall, the Grizzlies hit 23 of 54 attempts from the field for 42.6 percent, five of 16 shots from 3-point range for 31.2 percent and 10 of 20 attempts from the free throw line for 50 percent. In addition, they had 35 rebounds, 12 assists and 25 turnovers. Sophomore guard Craig Eubanks led the team in scoring with 17 points, and sophomore guard Jameel Moore added 13.
The Cardinals hit 32 of 66 shots from the field for 48.5 percent, eight of 19 3-point attempts for 42.1 percent and six of 13 shots from the free throw line for 46.2 percent. In addition, they recorded 31 rebounds, 22 assists and 16 turnovers. Leading scorers were Randy Holmes with 18 points, Anthony Virdure 17 and Greg Tucker 12.
Walker said Saturday’s loss makes the Grizzlies’ next game “even bigger.” The Grizzlies will face Region 16 arch rival Three Rivers College, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center for the annual homecoming game. “We have to be prepared for this game,” Walker stressed.
In addition to the game, the 2015 Missouri State-West Plains Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned at halftime, and following the contest, the university’s development office will host an alumni homecoming after party beginning at 9 p.m. at Ropers, No. 36 Court Square, in downtown West Plains. All alumni and guests age 21 and over are invited to attend and enjoy live music. Organizers said special alumni T-shirts also will be given away at the game, courtesy of Ozark Radio Network. Quantities are limited, so organizers encourage alumni to arrive to the game early to receive one.
Walker also reminded fans to tune into the new “Above the Rim” streaming live video segment at 10 a.m. every Monday at www.ihigh.com/msuwestplains to learn the latest news on the Grizzlies as they continue their march through the 2014-15 season. Those who cannot tune in live can view the segment later in the archives of the website. Fans also may ask Walker questions through Twitter by using the hashtag #GrizzlyTalk, or they may e-mail questions to AboveTheRim@MissouriState.edu.
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.