WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team picked up its first ever Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) victory Wednesday night, Nov. 18, with a 77-71 win over St. Louis Community College in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
“It was certainly good to win our first MCCAC game in the history of the program,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “Teams like St. Louis are hard to play because of how chaotic they can make the game. That being said, we took great care of the ball, we shared the ball very well and we really attacked the offensive glass.”
Statistics for the game show the Grizzlies only committed seven turnovers and dished out 17 assists on 24 baskets. They also had 10 offensive rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field, hitting 24 of 54 shots. In addition, they connected on eight of 21 shots from 3-point range for 38 percent and 15 of 23 attempts from the free throw line for 65 percent. Overall, the Grizzlies grabbed 29 rebounds, blocked four shots and stole the ball nine times.
The Grizzlies (7-1, 1-0) found their MCCAC counterparts quite competitive throughout the contest. Going into the halftime break, the host team only held a 37-36 advantage over the visitors. The contest remained close in the second half, with the Grizzlies outscoring St. Louis 40-35 during the period.
Leading the way for the Grizzlies was sophomore forward Ngor Barnaba, who turned in a double-double performance with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He also had one block. Freshman forward Devonte Campbell followed with 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Sophomore forward Terrel Martin-Garcia added 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals to the stat book. Freshman guard Jaelin Sanford contributed 12 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals; and freshman guard Vonny Irvin added 11 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals.
St. Louis hit 27 of 56 shots from the field for 48 percent, nine of 23 3-point attempts for 39 percent, and eight of nine free throws for 89 percent. The team also recorded 27 rebounds, 14 assists, three steals and 14 turnovers. Leading scorers were Nate Rigmaiden with 19 points, Devante Harrell 16 and Andrew Weaver 11.
Although Walker is happy with the win, he noted his team still has work to do defensively, especially since there has been a shift in the way referees are calling games. In an effort to increase scoring, referees are clamping down on the physical nature of the game to free up offensive movement, he explained.
“We have to get better guarding the ball with the way the game is now being called. It is an adjust every team is having to make at every level. We have to get better at defending the three and finishing possessions defensively,” he said.
The Grizzlies will return to the road this weekend to compete in North Arkansas College Pioneer Classic Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20 and 21, in Harrison. The Grizzlies will face Arkansas Baptist College from Little Rock at 5:30 p.m. Friday and North Lake College from Irving, Texas, at noon Saturday.
“Now we have to go play Arkansas Baptist, which has one of the best one-on-one players, Stevie Clark, at our level in the nation,” Walker said. “I challenged our guys in the locker room after the game to have someone successfully take on that responsibility.”
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website or call the Grizzly Basketball office at 417-255-7993. Complete game statistics can be found here.