Grizzlies hold off Roadrunners in last home game of regular season

The Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team put on a show for their fans Wednesday night at their last home game of the regular season.

Using a combination of stout defense, break-away runs and spectacular dunks, the Grizzlies zipped past the State Fair Community College Roadrunners 105-99 in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.

The win ups the Grizzlies' overall season record to 11-18 and their Region 16 record to 4-8, securing a fourth seed in the upcoming NJCAA Region 16 Championship Tournament. As fourth seed, they will host these same Roadrunners, who are seeded fifth in the tournament, at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the civic center.

The winner will move on to the tournament semifinals to face the No. 1 seed at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at Lincoln University.

Team effort pays off

It took a collective effort by the Grizzlies to break the Roadrunners full-court press defense, and all 10 members of the team saw action. Six of those players scored in double figures for the night.

"I thought we really played well as a team, and that is why we had a balance in scoring" Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said. "And I have to give a lot of credit to Isaiah Lewis and Mehdi Pissis for the way they handled State Fair's pressure defense."

Freshman guard Mo Kora led the way on the scoreboard with 24 points, many of which were scored off a barrage of highlight reel dunks. "Mo played the way he is capable of playing," Phay said.

Kora was followed by freshmen guards Sebian Dillard and Reese Dodson who each added 15 points. Pissis, a sophomore forward, canned 13 points and dished out six assists. Freshman forward Luka Novakovic netted 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. And Lewis, a freshman guard, added 11 points and recorded five assists.

The Grizzlies took the court without starting point guard Sterling White Wednesday evening. White was in concussion protocol following an injury in practice.

"Sterling has been our most consistent guy," Phay said. "He is our quarterback out there, so not having him was concerning heading into the game."

Up next

The Grizzlies have one more game to play in the regular season, and it will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, in Park Hills against the Mineral Area College Cardinals. The Cardinals are currently ranked 13th in the nation.

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