WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team will close out the first half of its season at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, when it hosts Richard J. Daley College from Chicago, Illinois, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies will go into the contest with a 9-5 record after dropping both of their games in the Grizzly Christmas Classic tournament this past weekend at the civic center. On Friday, Dec. 11, they lost to Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa 94-75, and Saturday, Dec. 12, they fell to No. 12 Iowa Western Community College of Council Bluffs 96-80.
“This was a difficult weekend,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “We could not put a string of stops together in either game. In the Tonkawa game, we had several chances to take control, but we simply let opportunities slip away. We never got in the flow offensively. We didn’t put enough pressure on their defense by moving the ball from side to side. We had more one-pass or one-ball screen shots this weekend than we have had for a long time. It’s hard to win that way.”
The Grizzlies connected on 26 of 68 shots from the field for 38.2 percent, nine of 23 3-point attempts for 39.1 percent and 14 of 19 free throws for 73.7 percent. Northern Oklahoma hit 29 of 58 attempts from the field for 50 percent, five of 14 3-point attempts for 35.7 percent and 21 of 26 free throws for 80.8 percent.
The Grizzlies were led on the scoreboard by sophomore forward Ngor Barnaba with 24 points. He was followed by freshman guard Juwan Green with 17 points and sophomore forward Terrell Martin-Garcia and freshman forward Devonte Campbell each with 11. Martin-Garcia recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds accompanying his 11 points. Leading scorers for Northern Oklahoma were Torey Noel with 20 points, Jarrid Rhodes with 19, Travon Moore 14 and Valentine Sangoyomi with 12.
In the Iowa Western game, Walker said the Reivers “shot the ball very well, but we did very little defensively to challenge their shots. When we finally moved the ball and got easy baskets, we could not put stops together to go on a run.”
Iowa Western hit 38 of 62 shots from the field for 61 percent, 10 of 21 3-point attempts for 48 percent and 10 of 17 free throws for 59 percent. The Grizzlies were 25 of 70 from the field for 35.7 percent, eight of 28 from 3-point range for 28.6 percent and 22 of 35 from the fee throw line for 62.9 percent.
Leading scorers for the Grizzlies were Barnaba with 16 points, Campbell and Martin-Garcia each with 12 and freshman guard Vonny Irvin with 11. The Reivers were led by Marquel Beasley with 19 points, Donovan Jackson 14 and Andre Wallace 11.
Walker said he would like to thank the City of West Plains for sponsoring the tournament. “They did a great job, and we are extremely appreciative,” he said.
The Grizzlies will return to the court Jan. 1 and 2, 2016, when they host the Grizzly New Year’s Classic at the civic center. Joining them in the tournament will be North Arkansas College from Harrison, Quakerdale Prep of New Providence, Iowa, and Link Year Prep from Branson. Games are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. each day, with the Grizzlies competing in the 7 p.m. contests.
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.