Grizzlies face Three Rivers Sat.; Tom Barr will be inducted into the Grizzly Athletics Hall of Fame

Saturday will be a special evening for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Athletics Department.

Not only will the basketball team be hosting its annual home game against Region 16 arch rival Three Rivers College, members of the Grizzly Booster Club will induct former Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Tom Barr into the Grizzly Athletics Hall of Fame.

"It's going to be a great evening, no question about it. We're going to honor Tom Barr, a legendary coach here who started our program in 1993 and coached the Grizzlies for 11 seasons. Coach Barr laid the foundation for everything that we are able to accomplish here," current Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. 

The ceremony will take place during halftime, which tips off at 7 p.m. at the West Plains Civic Center. University officials said all former players are welcome and encouraged to attend. Free tickets will be available to these former student athletes.

The Grizzlies will go into Saturday's game with a 7-14 record after dropping Saturday's Region 16 home opener against third-ranked Mineral Area College from Park Hills 85-75 and Tuesday's home contest against Labette Community College from Parsons, Kansas, 85-73.

Vs. MAC

Last Saturday, the Grizzlies gave their Region 16 rivals from Park Hills, who were ranked fifth at the time of the game, all they could handle in the first half, going up 48-38 over the Cardinals at the break.

The second half, however, the Cardinals showed why they're nationally ranked as they utilized the range of their talent to outscore the Grizzlies 47-27 in the game's last frame.

"Overall, I was pleased with the effort. We had a lot of guys who played with a lot of energy.  Foul trouble hurt us again, but other guys stepped up," Popp said.

"But we had a stretch there in the second half when we were at the rim three or four times within a few possessions and didn't finish," he added. "We've got to finish. We're putting ourselves in a position to be where we want to be, but we have to finish plays. That's what it comes down to."

Sophomore forward Alex Peterson led the Grizzlies in scoring with 24 points, followed by freshman guard Franklyn Petion with 16, redshirt sophomore forward Quentin Jones 13 and sophomore guard Taevon Horton 11.

Vs. Labette

Despite the loss, the Grizzlies put forth a strong effort against MAC. The same couldn't be said Tuesday evening. Defensive breakdowns and a lack of effort on the boards by the Grizzlies allowed the Cardinals from Kansas to build on their 42-40 halftime lead and finish with an 85-73 win.

"It was absolutely frustrating to come out and compete the way we did," Popp said. "We did good things in spots, but the mindset, the mentality at the start was not where it needed to be to win basketball games. If we come to play, do what we're supposed to do and do it with passion, then we'll be fine."

Popp said he was most surprised by his team's muted defensive effort. "I don't know if we expected it to be easy, but when we started out in our press, we were sitting back, we weren't trapping, we weren't flying around," he explained. "I hope we see a completely different team Saturday."

Leading scorers for the Grizzlies against Labette were Peterson with 15 points, Jones 13 and Petion 12.

Popp believes his team will be much more like the Grizzlies who faced MAC when they take the court Saturday against the Raiders. "The environment will be different. Our guys will be geared up for it. I expect that kind of effort out of them," he said.

Even so, the Grizzlies are running out of time to right the ship and patch the holes that have been plaguing them all season.

"We have seven region games ahead of us then the postseason. At this point, with our start, it will be all about the way we end the season. We've got the pieces, and we show it, but we're not consistently the team we need to be. We've got a short time to get this thing right, and we're going to do everything we can to make it happen," he said.

For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit www.msuwpgrizzlies.com or call 417-255-7991.