Grizzlies fall to MAC, close out regular season Sat.

Bad habits can be hard to break.

They're one of the reasons the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Basketball team fell to No. 6 Mineral Area College 77-59 Wednesday evening in Park Hills.

"We reverted to bad habits out of the gate," Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Chris Popp said. "Mineral Area gave us shots, and we fell back into bad habits, taking quick, early shots. Those didn't go in and turned into Mineral Area baskets."

The Grizzlies (10-19 overall, 2-5 region) fell behind the Cardinals 10-0 early in the first half and never caught up. By halftime, the Grizzlies trailed 38-23, and in the second half, they were out-scored 39-36.

"We had a lot of opportunities – open looks, shots at the rim – but they didn't fall," Popp said. "Defensively, we were sporadic, especially in our press.

"Mineral Area is a very good team. They're No. 6 in the nation for a reason. They're tough, physical and make you work for what you get," the coach added.

Missing pieces

It also didn't help that the Grizzlies were missing three of their leading scorers and rebounders. Freshman guard Franklyn Petion joined sophomore forward Quentin Jones on the bench with injuries, and sophomore guard Taevon Horton was not at the game due to a family emergency.

In addition, sophomore forward Alex Peterson spent a significant amount of time on the bench in foul trouble.

"It hurt to have Alex on the bench for a long stretch in the first half," Popp said. "We were short-handed against a good team on the road. There was a very small margin for error."

Despite his limited play, Peterson led the Grizzlies in scoring with 18 points. Freshman guard Nico Hill came off the bench and added 10.

"We did some good things, a play here and there," Popp said. "A lot of guys did good things at different times, but this time of the year you have to string possessions together, and we have struggled to do that."

Regular season finale

The Grizzlies will close out the regular season Saturday against No. 23 Moberly Area Community College in the annual Grizzly Homecoming game. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the West Plains Civic Center.

"It was a game we lost in a few stretches when we played earlier this year. We will have to limit those stretches. Hopefully, we will have some of our guys back on the floor," Popp said.

No matter the outcome of Saturday's game, the Grizzlies will be the No. 4 seed in the Region 16 Championship Tournament. They will host No. 5 seed State Fair Community College Tuesday in the quarterfinal round. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the West Plains Civic Center.

The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to the semifinals to face the tournament's No. 1 seed at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at Jason Gym on the campus of Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The Region 16 Championship game is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 29 at Lincoln University.

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