WEST PLAINS, Mo. – They should be the easiest buckets to make on the basketball court, but in some games, they become the hardest shot of all.
They’re known as free throws, and for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team, they’ve become the bane of the players’ existence.
They’re also one of the contributing factors to the Grizzlies’ first home loss of the season to a Region 16 opponent Wednesday evening in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies only hit 52 percent of their shots from the charity stripe in their loss to the State Fair Community College Roadrunners from Sedalia 90-82. The Grizzlies are now 21-7 overall and 3-4 in region play.
“The thing we’re struggling with right now is free throws,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. “We’re losing games at the free throw line, and it’s absolutely frustrating as a coach. We have to be mentally strong enough to step up to the line and make free throws. Each guy on this team can do it, we just have to be mentally tough enough.”
A COMPARISON
The Grizzlies connected on just 12 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe for the night while the Roadrunners connected on 31 of 38 attempts for 82 percent.
“It’s not about practice, there’s nothing to adjust, we just have to step up and make free throws,” Popp stressed.
THE GAME
The Grizzlies started the contest strong, going up by as much as 7 points in the first half. But a series of turnovers and missed buckets allowed the Roadrunners to race back and take a 41-38 advantage into the halftime break.
The game stayed tight in the second half with the lead changing several times between the teams, but turnovers once again reared their ugly head and allowed the Roadrunners to begin pulling away late in the game.
“Offensively, we can be better, but outside of our game at Mineral Area, that end of the floor has not been the issue,” Popp said. “We didn’t play the pace we wanted to play the majority of the game, but we were efficient on offense. Our half-court defense was solid, too. A lot of their easy baskets came off our 20 turnovers.
“In a nutshell, those two issues are it. They are costing us games. We must make free throws and take care of the ball,” he added.
FOUL TROUBLES
Already short starting guards Radshad Davis and Niekie Thomas, who did not suit up for Wednesday’s game, the Grizzlies also found themselves in foul trouble early, especially in the first half.
“Burone Edwards fouled out with only nine minutes on the court,” the coach pointed out. Eventually joining the freshman forward on the bench were freshman guard Eric Lovett and freshman forward Dontell Brown, both of whom fouled out, as well.
But Popp isn’t looking to that as an excuse for the loss. “We just weren’t tough enough to make the big plays,” he said.
BRIGHT SPOTS
Some bright spots emerged from the game. Sophomore forward Yannis Mendy turned in a stellar performance with 28 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, and Lovett played one of his best halves of the season in the second period, scoring 14 of his 18 points and grabbing seven of his 8 rebounds in the 20-minute span. Lovett also had three steals for the game.
“Yannis was aggressive and looking to score. We’ve been challenging him all season to be more aggressive. That’s the most aggressive we’ve seen him this season,” Popp said.
“Eric played really well. He was challenged at halftime, and he responded. He was a different player in the second half. That was his best half of basketball so far,” the coach added.
Sophomore point guard Ricky Torres scored 12 points, dished out nine assists, grabbed five rebounds and snatched three steals, and Brown added 12 points to the overall scoring tally.
“We’re better than what we’re playing right now,” Popp said. “It doesn’t make any difference how talented you are, you have to perform.”
REMAINING GAMES
The Grizzlies only have two games left in the regular season, a road contest at Missouri Community College Athletic Association (MCCAC) rival St. Louis Community College at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, in St. Louis and their final home game of the season against No. 8 Moberly Area Community College from Moberly at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at the civic center.
At the Feb. 24 game, the Grizzlies will honor four players who have been part of the program for the past two years – Torres, Mendy, Davis and sophomore guard Terrell Whitaker – and transfer forward Leonidas Kontopoulos.
“Those four returners have done a lot for our program the past two years as we have worked to get our culture established and get this program headed the right way,” Popp said.
“It takes more than coaches, you need players who buy into what we are preaching. They deserve recognition for their contributions,” he added.
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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