The Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team enters postseason play today when they host the NJCAA Region 16 Championship Tournament play-in game.
The Grizzlies (11-19 overall, 4-9 region) will face State Fair Community College (14-14 overall, 3-7 region) at 7 p.m. in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
The Grizzlies are seeded fourth in Region 16 postseason action, and the Roadrunners are seeded fifth.
Since tonight’s game is a postseason event, there will be no advance ticket sales, officials said. All tickets will be sold at the door.
The winner of tonight’s game will face first seed and 13th-ranked Mineral Area College (23-6 overall, 10-3 region) at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, in the tournament’s semifinals at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
The Region 16 Championship game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at Lincoln University.
Regular season finale
The Grizzlies ended their regular season Saturday with a 92-68 loss to Mineral Area in Park Hills.
MSU-WP took the court with just seven active players. Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said he decided to rest some players for postseason action since the outcome of the game wouldn’t affect the final region standings.
Even with the change, Phay said he was pleased with the his players’ efforts. “Beating Mineral Area at their place is a daunting task even with everyone healthy, but considering the circumstances, I was proud of how the guys played,” he said.
The Grizzlies kept the game tight early and took a brief 24-23 lead midway through the first half. But the Cardinals went on a scoring spree and entered the halftime break with a 49-34 advantage, an advantage they never relinquished.
Sophomore forward Mehdi Pissis led the Grizzlies with 15 points and five assists. Freshman guard Taylor Harrison added a career high 13 points.
“Mehdi has been having to handle a lot of point guard duties and he has played well,” Phay said. “And, it was great to see Taylor get some playing time. He played well.”
Freshman forward Mo Kora added 10 points to the Grizzlies’ tally.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit www.MSUWPGrizzlies.com or call 417-255-7991.
