EDMOND, Okla. – Beating two ranked teams back-to-back is a tall order, and one the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team couldn’t fill.
The Grizzlies dropped both of their games at the Mitchell Elite 8 tournament in Edmond, Oklahoma. They fell to No. 9 Kilgore College 84-61 Sunday then gave up a 71-56 decision to No. 12 Odessa College today.
The losses drop the Grizzlies to 1-3 on the season. All three losses come at the hands of teams ranked in the top 12 of the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball preseason poll.
“We played against two of the best teams in the country,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said of his team’s opponents. “Both teams competed at the national tournament last season and have a lot of experience.”
Sophomore forward Nico Hill led the Grizzlies’ scoring efforts against Kilgore, netting 14 points in the contest. Freshman guard Kevon Eskridge added 12.
Sophomore guard Byron “Tre” Breland paced the Grizzlies against Odessa, netting 13 points.
Sophomore guard Donovan Freeman went down with an injury in the first half against Kilgore, leaving the Grizzlies short-handed at the two-day event.
“We saw some positives these past two days, but overall we need to get better,” Phay said.
The season doesn’t get any easier for the Grizzlies. They return to the road this weekend to compete in the Missouri/Iowa Challenge Tournament in West Burlington. The first team they will face is No. 2 Indian Hills Community College at 6 p.m. Friday. Saturday, they will play Triton College at 3 p.m.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit www.msuwpgrizzlies.com or call 417-255-7991.
Missouri State University-West Plains empowers students to achieve personal success and to enrich their local and global communities by providing accessible, affordable and quality educational opportunities. Missouri State-West Plains offers associate degrees and credit and non-credit courses and serves as a delivery site for bachelor’s and master’s degrees offered by Missouri State University in Springfield.
