MOBERLY, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team finally picked up its first Region 16 win of the season against the Moberly Area Community College Greyhounds in Moberly, and they did it in dramatic style.
With the game knotted at 64-64 and just two seconds left on the clock, freshman guard Juwan Green grabbed the rebound of his own missed layup and put up the winning shot as time expired, giving the Grizzlies a 66-64 win in region play. They are now 15-9 overall, 1-5 in Region 16 and 2-5 in Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) play.
“This was a great win,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Yancey Walker said. “Moberly has always been a tough place for our program to play. We really stayed the course in the second half, especially after we got down by 12. We hit some very timely threes and got some very timely baskets from our offensive rebounds. And, to end the game, we needed someone to make a play, and Juwan did just that.”
The Grizzlies got the last-bucket opportunity after causing a turnover with 22 seconds left to play. A quick time out allowed Walker and the players to set up the plan of attack for the shot, and it was Green’s aggressiveness that allowed him to grab his missed shot and try again, the coach said.
“I was proud of our rebounding,” he said. “Moberly usually gets 13 offensive rebounds a game, but we held them under 10. We didn’t shoot a bad percentage in the first half, but we turned the ball over eight times. We got that corrected in the second half by only committing three.”
Overall, the Grizzlies hit 27 of 56 shots from the field for 48.2 percent, six of 20 attempts from 3-point range for 30 percent and six of 11 attempts from the charity stripe for 54.5 percent. They also had 31 rebounds, 16 assists, 11 turnovers and six steals for the game. Leading scorers were freshman forward Mike Parks, Jr., with 13 points, Green and freshman guard Vonny Irvin with 12 points each, and sophomore forward Ngor Barnaba with 11.
The Greyhounds hit 24 of 51 shots from the field for 47.1 percent, four of 16 3-point attempts for 25 percent and 12 of 16 free throw attempts for 75 percent. They also had 29 rebounds, five assists, 14 turnovers and four steals. Leading scorers were Rashad Lindsey with 22 points and Cecil Williams with 14.
The Grizzlies have one more road game before closing out the season at home. They will travel to MCCAC foe St. Louis Community College on Feb. 3 then return to Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center to host College of Faith from West Memphis, Arkansas, on Feb. 6, Region 16 rival State Fair Community College of Sedalia Feb. 9, Faith Preparatory Academy from West Memphis, Arkansas on Feb. 15, and Moberly on Feb. 19. The team’s sophomores will be honored at the Feb. 19 game.
The Grizzlies will host a diaper drive for the Diaper Resource Center at the Feb. 15 game, university officials said. Those who bring a package of diapers to the game will receive free admission, they explained.
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.