By CHRIS POPP, Grizzly Basketball Head Coach
WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The No. 18 Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzlies basketball team traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, Wednesday, Jan. 18, to face the Arkansas Baptist College Buffalos for the second time this season.
Their first encounter with the Buffalos found the Grizzlies on top 93-77. The story would be much the same this time around. In a hard-fought game, the Grizzlies would come home with an 84-72 victory. The win puts the Grizzlies at 19-3 for the season, and following the loss to No. 3 Indian Hills Community College, the Grizzlies dropped two spots in the polls this week to No. 18.
Missouri State-West Plains has had a habit of starting games hot this season. That was not the case Tuesday when three minutes into the game, the Grizzlies remained scoreless. “The danger when you play teams that guard the way that Arkansas Baptist does, is getting caught up taking early shots,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. “It takes some discipline to turn down decent shots early to work for better. When those shots are falling, it looks okay. But when they aren’t, it can quickly put you in a hole.”
The Grizzlies would settle down and make a run. Although the normally high-octane offense did not seem to be clicking on all cylinders, defensively they locked in to change the momentum. “We had some key stops that allowed us to get easy baskets in transition,” Popp said. “It’s cliché, but sometimes the best offense really does come from defense.” The Grizzlies used that momentum to take a 44-35 lead into halftime.
The lead would extend to as many as 16; however, the Buffalos never went away and cut the lead to seven in the last two minutes. The Buffalos would miss a couple of perimeter shots, with the rebounds gathered by the Grizzlies. The victory was then sealed with free throws and a lay-up by Johde Campbell in the final minute.
Sophomore forward Yannis Mendy, who had missed the last four games due to an injury, made his return to the court a successful one. “You almost forget what Yannis brings to our team with him being sidelined so long,” Popp said. “He is very solid, plays hard, and inserts a presence of toughness, especially on the glass and on the defensive end. It is great to have the big fella back!” Mendy led the Grizzlies with 19 points, adding 12 rebounds and coming up with two crucial steals. Redshirt freshman guard Radshad Davis also contributed a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. They were followed by Dontell Brown with 17, Ricky Torres with 12, Eric Lovett with 10 and Johde Campbell who chipped in seven points, four rebounds, and four assists.
It was a big night for Torres as he broke the Grizzlies career assist mark, dishing out eight on the night, bringing his career assist total to 333. Former Grizzly basketball player Brandon Temple held the previous record with 327 career assists. With 174 assists on the year, Torres is also rapidly approaching the single-season record of 198, currently held by former Grizzly basketball player Jameel Moore. “It is an impressive feat. He has been a catalyst for our program the past two years in many ways. I am happy for him to achieve the individual recognition,” Popp said. “The great thing about Ricky though is that after the game when I congratulated him, he had forgotten about it. For him, it’s all about his team and winning. That mentality is a key leadership quality and contagious.”
The Grizzlies will return home to face Region 16 rival Three Rivers College at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 20, in the West Plains Civic Center. Popp commented that this year’s Homecoming game will also be a celebration of 25 years of Grizzly athletics. “I know the committee has worked hard to make it a special event. We hope to have quite a few alumni back and the Three Rivers game in general is always a battle.” For more information on Homecoming events visit https://news.wp.missouristate.edu.
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, http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/bb/, or call 417-255-7991.