WEST PLAINS, Mo. – It will be a battle of unbeatens as the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team hosts the Northwest Mississippi Community College Rangers from Senatobia at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies are sporting a 10-0 record after defeating Arkansas Baptist College of Little Rock 93-77 on Nov. 21 and Nationwide Academy from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 109-87 Saturday, Nov. 25. Both games were at the civic center.
The Rangers will come in with a 5-0 record after defeating Faith Prep Academy 99-72 and Lawson State 93-78 in their home tournament Nov. 16-17.
“This will be a good test for us,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said of Tuesday’s contest. “They’re always good. They play hard, and they rebound it very well. Year in and year out Coach (Bubba) Skelton does a great job. It will be another battle.”
LAST WEEK’S GAMES
The Grizzlies prepared for that battle with two impressive wins last week. “We did what we were supposed to do. We took care of business at home. That’s something that good teams do,” Popp said.
Arkansas Baptist came out strong against the Grizzlies, taking an early lead, but the Buffaloes couldn’t keep up the pace, and the Grizzlies took a 50-29 lead into halftime.
“They’re a good team that’s struggling to find its way,” Popp said. “We’ll play them again in two months, and I expect them to be a lot better by then.”
Several Grizzlies came off the bench and contributed to the win. Freshman guard Eric Lovett and freshman forward Dontell Brown each scored 14 points. In all, 44 points were scored by the bench.
Leading the way for the Grizzlies once again was sophomore point guard Ricky Torres, who recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists.
“We got contributions from a lot of places,” the coach said. “There weren’t a lot of outstanding individual performances, but as a team, we did what we needed to do.”
Against Nationwide Saturday, the Grizzlies jumped out to a 61-32 lead at the end of the first half and never looked back. Eleven Grizzlies added points to the scoreboard, with six scoring in double figures.
Redshirt freshman guard Radshad Davis led the charge with 22 points, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the field. He was followed by Torres, who recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 assists.
Sophomore forward Yannis Mendy added 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his own double-double, and freshman guard Niekie Thomas, freshman forward Dontell Brown and freshman guard Montel Stewart scored 11 points apiece.
“Our three sophomore starters played really well. They made sure Nationwide never felt like they were in the game,” Popp said. “Our bench took advantage of their minutes and played well. Montel Stewart is getting better every day in practice and is showing it when he has the opportunity. He was four of five from the field.”
UPCOMING TESTS
Tuesday’s game against Northwest Mississippi is just the first of several big games coming up for the Grizzlies before the holiday break. Friday and Saturday, they will compete in the Cambridge Investment Classic at Ottumwa, Iowa, where they will face No. 6 Indian Hills Community College on Friday. On Dec. 9, they will have a rematch with No. 20 Iowa Western Community College as part of the Holiday Inn Toy Toss Classic at the West Plains Civic Center. And on Dec. 15, they will close out their fall schedule with a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, for a contest against Southwest Tennessee Community College.
“This will be a really big stretch for us,” Popp said. “We have some high level games ahead of us before Christmas.”
For complete statistics of the Grizzlies’ games this season, visit http://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2017-18/div1/teams/missouristateuniversitywestplains. For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit the team’s website or call 417-255-7991.
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