There’s an adage basketball fans often hear during the course of a season – “you live by the three, you die by the three.”
Wednesday night, the Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team lived abundantly by the three, netting 24 of the long-distance shots on their way to a 108-72 shellacking of Arkansas Baptist College at the West Plains Civic Center.
Twelve of those shots came from sophomore guard Adnan Hussein, who led the Grizzlies in scoring for the night with 36 points.
Hussein was one of five Grizzlies who scored in double figures. Freshman point guard Ankit Choudhary came off the bench and added 14 points, while freshman guard Reece Dodson netted 12.
Fellow freshman guard James “Scooter” Williams, who has been pacing the Grizzlies in scoring recently, pumped in 11 points along with six rebounds, and sophomore point guard Martaveon Jones added 10. Both played limited minutes compared to their recent workload.
“I thought we saw some good things Wednesday night, but the biggest thing was seeing our guys support each other,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said.
“Adnan did what he does. He is as good of a shooter as there is in the country, but it was also seeing guys like Reese and Ankit get some playing time and making the most of it,” the coach added.
Sophomore Marcus Hunter led the Buffaloes in scoring with 19 points.
Rematch Saturday
The Grizzlies and Buffaloes will meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday on the Buffaloes home court in Little Rock. Inclement weather forced a rescheduling of the Feb. 20 game between the two teams to Wednesday. The result was back-to-back games, Phay explained.
“It’s kind of different that we’re playing them again, but at the same time, we are just happy to be getting games in,” the coach said. “We need to use each one to improve as a team.”
The Grizzlies will return to Region 16 play Monday, March 22, when they host Moberly Area Community College at the civic center. Tipoff is 7 p.m.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball program, visit www.msuwpgrizzlies.com or call 417-255-7991.
