WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team will play host to the No. 16 team in the nation Saturday as part of the Holiday Inn Toy Toss Classic.
The Grizzlies (13-1) will meet Iowa Western Community College’s Reivers (12-1) at 1 p.m. that day in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center on the final day of the two-day tournament.
This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Grizzlies downed the Reivers, ranked 20th at the time, 99-85 Nov. 10 in Council Bluffs, so Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp expects his team’s opponent will be looking to exact a little revenge.
“With Iowa Western coming in at No. 16 and their only loss to us, they’ll be coming in to avenge it. But our guys are ready to play. They’re excited and up for the challenge,” he said.
GRIZZLY TOY TOSS
The game also will be the setting of the second annual Grizzly Toy Toss. Fans are being asked to bring a new or gently used soft toy to the game to toss on the court when the Grizzlies score their first points. Toys collected from the toss will be given to the local Toys for Tots campaign sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserve. Those who bring a toy will receive free admissions.
“We’d like to encourage people to bring as many new or slightly used soft toys as they can for Toys for Tots,” Popp said. “All will be given to area children who are less fortunate this holiday season.”
THE TOURNAMENT
The tournament will get underway at 5 p.m. Friday when the Reivers face North Arkansas College from Harrison. The Grizzlies will follow with a game against Faith Prep from West Memphis, Arkansas, at 7 p.m. The tournament will conclude at 3 p.m. Saturday with North Arkansas facing Faith Prep.
NEXT LEVEL PREP
The Grizzlies picked up their most recent win Wednesday night against Next Level Prep Academy from Wichita, Kansas, with a 95-77 decision at the civic center. Next Level jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but 6 straight points by freshman guard Niekie Thomas put the Grizzlies back on top, and they never looked back.
“Things were exposed last Friday, and we’ve been working on those things since. I saw progress (last night), so I was pleased with that,” Popp said, referring to the Grizzlies’ only loss of the season Dec. 1 against No. 3 Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.
“The key for us all year, offensively, has been to play fast and get it to the paint. We did that successfully last night,” the coach added. “They went to a zone trying to slow us down. Initially, it worked, as we went to some quick perimeter shots. But again, our guys are learning and got back to what we needed to do. When we go to the paint, we’re hard to stop.”
A key to that success came in the form of sophomore forward Yannis Mendy. After finding himself on the bench in foul trouble against Indian Hills, Mendy came out strong against Next Level Prep and recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“Yannis was huge on the glass. They’ve got very good size, but Yannis really dominated the glass,” Popp said.
Other Grizzlies scoring in double figures were Thomas and redshirt freshman guard Radshad Davis, who each had 19 points, and freshman guard Eric Lovett, who added 17.
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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