WEST PLAINS, Mo. – In the annals of historical games for the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team, Wednesday night’s battle against the Three Rivers College Raiders will go down as one of the best.
With the game tied at 75-75 and just a couple of seconds remaining on the clock, redshirt freshman guard Isaiah Lewis drove down the lane then dished the ball to sophomore guard Byron Breland in the left corner of the court. The 6-foot, 4-inch Camden, Connecticut, product immediately let sail an arching shot that swished through the net just as the buzzer sounded, giving the Grizzlies a well-deserved 77-75 victory over their Region 16 arch rival from Poplar Bluff.
“It was a great atmosphere and a great game to be part of,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said. “I am really proud of the guys for battling because Three Rivers is a very talented team.
“It was great to see Byron hit that shot, and the pass from Isaiah is what created that shot. It’s those moments you see a team really starting to play together,” the coach added.
The contest had been a nip and tuck battle throughout, with neither team building more than just a few points advantage at any given time. At halftime, the Raiders held a 39-38 lead, thanks in large part to 12 turnovers by the Grizzlies in the period.
The battle continued in the second half. Tied at 75-75 with a minute remaining, a 3-point attempt by the Grizzlies bounced off the rim. The Raiders snared the rebound, raced down the court and tried their hand at a 16-foot contested jumper with 20 seconds remaining, but the attempt also failed and sophomore forward Ugo Eze pulled down a tough rebound to give the Grizzlies back the ball for the final shot.
“The guys did a good job not getting rattled,” Phay said in a radio interview after the game. “There are a lot of little things the guys learned in our close losses, so we were due for a close win, and we’ll take it.”
Phay credited the Grizzlies win to the team’s grit. “That has been lacking at times with some of our losses, to sit down and get the stop,” Phay said. “Three Rivers is a good offensive team. They’re tough to stop, and we got the stops. Then, Ugo got that big rebound at the end. That’s what we learned from some of our losses.”
Breland and freshman guard Kevon Eskridge led the Grizzlies in scoring with 17 points each. Lewis added 10, and sophomore forward Nico Hill, nursing a leg injury, added 9.
The Grizzlies are now 5-7 on the season, but more importantly, they are 1-0 in Region 16 play.
“I know we’ve been saying it, but we’ve played the toughest schedule in the country to this point, and we have done it shorthanded, so I really think our best basketball is ahead of us when we have everyone at full strength,” Phay said.
The Grizzlies will take the court again Sunday, Dec. 5, when they travel to St. Louis to take on Parkland College from Champaign, Illinois, in the Missouri/Illinois Challenge at St. Louis Community College.
Their next home game will be Tuesday, Dec. 7, against Tennessee Prep. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at the West Plains Civic Center.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit www.msuwpgrizzlies.com or call 417-255-7991.
