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THE 2017-18 GRIZZLY BASKETBALL team at Missouri State University-West Plains includes, front row from left, Erik Nvagbara, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Nieke Thomas, Springfield; Johde Campbell, Leicester, England; Ricky Torres, Pinellas Park, Fla.; Radshad Davis, Nassau, Bahamas; Terrell Whitaker, Pinellas Park, Fla.; Montel Stewart, Palm Bay, Fla.; and Eric Lovett, Union City, Ga. Second row: Evan White, Florissant; managers Marcus Golden and Eric Stafford, both of St. Louis; Head Coach Chris Popp; managers Jordan Cook, St. Louis, and Bennett Sandwell, Springfield; and Derrick Roberson, Springfield. Back row: Mykyta Drugachonok, Odessa, Ukraine; Yannis Mendy, Metting, France; Leo Kontopoulos, Frankfurt, Germany; Greyson Smallwood, Portland, Ore.; Dontell Brown, Lexington, Ky.; Kenyon Stone, Bowie, Md.; and Burone Edwards, San Antonio, Texas. (Missouri State-West Plains Photo)
THE 2017-18 GRIZZLY BASKETBALL team at Missouri State University-West Plains includes, front row from left, Erik Nvagbara, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Nieke Thomas, Springfield; Johde Campbell, Leicester, England; Ricky Torres, Pinellas Park, Fla.; Radshad Davis, Nassau, Bahamas; Terrell Whitaker, Pinellas Park, Fla.; Montel Stewart, Palm Bay, Fla.; and Eric Lovett, Union City, Ga. Second row: Evan White, Florissant; managers Marcus Golden and Eric Stafford, both of St. Louis; Head Coach Chris Popp; managers Jordan Cook, St. Louis, and Bennett Sandwell, Springfield; and Derrick Roberson, Springfield. Back row: Mykyta Drugachonok, Odessa, Ukraine; Yannis Mendy, Metting, France; Leo Kontopoulos, Frankfurt, Germany; Greyson Smallwood, Portland, Ore.; Dontell Brown, Lexington, Ky.; Kenyon Stone, Bowie, Md.; and Burone Edwards, San Antonio, Texas. (Missouri State-West Plains Photo)

Grizzlies up record to 22-7 with road win over St. Louis Archers

Will play final home game of season Saturday

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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team upped its overall season record to 22-7 with an 80-65 win on the road Wednesday evening, Feb. 20, at St. Louis Community College in St. Louis.

Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said he is “very pleased” with the win. “We made winning plays that we haven’t been making. We also took care of the ball, which has been another issue for us,” he said.

Behind a strong defensive effort in the first half, the Grizzlies took control of the game early and never looked back. By halftime, they held a 39-27 lead.

“We really guarded well. We forced two shot clock violations, and seven times in the first half, we guarded them to under five seconds on the shot clock,” Popp said. “They were forcing shots at that point.”

In the second half, the Archers were able to pull within 9 points of the Grizzlies late in the game, but the Grizzlies responded by extending their lead to 15 by the time the final buzzer sounded.

“Finally, we had a game where we extended the lead in the closing minutes, rather than allowing the gap to close,” Popp said.

“(The Archers) are a very good team,” the coach continued. “They’ve beaten Moberly (Area Community College) and won at Mineral Area (College) and Three Rivers (College). They’re talented, and Coach Terry Collins does a great job.”

THE STATS

The Grizzlies were led on the scoreboard by sophomore point guard Ricky Torres, who netted 20 points and added 11 assists for his 10th double-double of the season. Freshman guard Eric Lovett followed with 19 points, and sophomore forward Yannis Mendy added 14.

“Ricky was great. He was seven of nine from the free throw line. He played very well,” Popp said.

“Eric is continuing to get better all-around,” Popp added. “He was three of five from the three, but more importantly for him, he had five rebounds and defended well.”

The coach also praised the play of freshman forward Burone Edwards. “Burone had a solid game, one of his better games since coming back. He only had 8 points, but he led us with seven rebounds and stayed out of foul trouble,” Popp said.

One area that still needs improvement for the Grizzlies is rebounding. “We didn’t keep them off the glass, and that was one place where we need to be better,” Popp said.

FINAL GAME

They have just a few days to work on that before nationally-ranked Moberly comes to West Plains Saturday for the Grizzlies’ final game of the regular season.

“Moberly has moved up to No. 8,” Popp said. “With them we’re going to have to do a better job rebounding. Taking care of the ball and keeping them off the glass are the two biggest keys against Moberly.”

The game, which tips off at 7 p.m. in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center, also will be the night the Grizzlies and their fans celebrate Sophomore Night. Torres, Mendy, redshirt freshman guard Radshad Davis, sophomore guard Terrell Whitaker and sophomore forward Leonidas Kontopoulos all will be honored for their contributions to the program.

“It’s been a special group that’s been responsible for a lot of change and progress in our program,” Popp said.

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.

Stay up to date with Grizzly Athletics and Grizzly Booster Club news by signing up for text alerts at http://remind.com/join/wpgrizz or text “@WPGrizz to 81010.