Grizzlies fall to Greyhounds at Moberly

For every step forward the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team makes this season, an obstacle rears its head to push the Grizzlies back two.

Wednesday night, that obstacle came in the form of the 15th ranked Moberly Area Community College Greyhounds.

The Grizzlies (8-16) couldn't keep pace with their Region 16 rivals from northern Missouri and fell 110-93 at Fitzsimmons-John Arena in Moberly.

"It was a typical Moberly game," Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. "When they beat you, they beat you in stretches. They went up 12-2 right off the bat. Then we calmed down and were down 6 points at the half, but they had two more scoring stretchs in the second half, and that was too much to overcome."

Especially when you're struggling on the glass. "If you want to beat good teams, you have to guard and rebound. They killed us on their offensive glass. That is an aspect of the game that Moberly does well, rebound the ball," Popp said.

Positives of the game

Despite the loss, Popp said there were a lot of positives. "We did a better job getting to the rim and not settling for perimeter shots early. We handled their press after the first couple of minutes. Our initial defense was solid. We simply can't give up second chances against a good team like Moberly," he said.

Another positive was the Grizzlies' balanced scoring. Five players scored in double figures. Sophomore forward Alex Peterson led with 19 points, followed by sophomore guard Sardaar Calhoun and freshman guard Franklyn Petion each with 17. Sophomore guard Taevon Horton added 15 points, and freshman forward Alex Rodrigues netted 10.

Popp noted that Petion also had five important rebounds for the Grizzlies. "He makes an impact on the game with his rebounding," the coach said.

The Grizzlies are halfway through Region 16 play. Popp is still optimistic the team can better their current 1-3 record.

"We start the second round Feb. 8 at Three Rivers College," he said. "Right now, Moberly is the front runner, undefeated at 5-0. After that, everything is up for grabs. If we play like I know we can play the rest of the way, we will be fighting for the two or three seed."

Before then, the Grizzlies return home to host one of the most talented teams they'll face all season – Sunrise Christian Academy from Wichita, Kansas. Game time is 7 p.m. this Saturday in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.

"Sunrise is bigger and as talented or more than anyone we've seen so far this season, and we've seen the best JUCOs in the country, so that's saying something," Popp said.

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