WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The 2022-2023 season came to an abrupt end for Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) Grizzly Basketball team Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The Grizzlies fell to State Fair Community College 73-60 in the Region 16 Championship Tournament play-in game in Joe Paul Evans Arena at the West Plains Civic Center.
It was the fourth meeting between the Grizzlies (11-19 overall, 4-10 region) and the Roadrunners (9-20 overall, 3-9 region) this season. The Grizzlies had one two of the previous three contests.
The Grizzlies took a 31-28 lead on a long 3-pointer by sophomore guard Rashad Weekly of Florissant with just over six minutes to play in the first half.
But the Roadrunners rallied with an 11-1 run to go into the halftime break with a 39-32 advantage.
The Grizzlies continued to battle in the second half, but they had difficulty scoring and could never close the gap.
MSU-WP’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Aiden Gair of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was unable to make much of a contribution to the game. His time was limited due to an injury, the coaching staff noted.
“We were all disappointed with the outcome of the game, but this team had some major accomplishments this season,” Grizzly Basketball Head Coach Jared Phay said.
Those include knocking off No. 3 Indian Hills Community College and No. 25 Mineral Area College in a seven-day span.
They also put in the work in the classroom and accumulated a 3.1 overall team grade point average for the fall semester, the coach noted.
Freshman guard Kendon Peebles, Hampton, Virginia, was the Grizzlies’ leading scorer with 16 points. Freshman guard Kyle Germany, Detroit, Michigan, and sophomore point guard Sterling White III, Chesapeake, Virginia, each had 13 points.
White led the team in assists with four and rebounds with seven.
Regular season finale
The Grizzlies closed out the regular season Feb. 22 against Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff. In another classic match-up between these long-time Region 16 rivals, the Grizzlies came up short and fell 80-78.
The Grizzlies had a difficult time containing the Raiders inside the paint during the first half and found themselves down 37-28 at halftime.
MSU-WP made some adjustments during the break and came out strong in the second half, quickly cutting the lead to single digits.
A deep 3-pointer by White with 2.7 seconds remaining cut the Raiders’ lead to one, 79-78. The Grizzlies quickly fouled, and the Raiders converted one of two free throws for an 80-78 lead.
Weekly had just enough time to attempt a half-court shot for the Grizzlies to try to pick up the win, but the ball fell short and bounced off the front of the rim.
Gair led the Grizzlies in scoring with 16 points. Sophomore forward Dallas Clayton, Aukland, New Zealand, added 14 points, and White 13.
White had 12 assists, and Gair and Germany each grabbed six rebounds.
For more information about the Grizzly Basketball team, visit MSUWPGrizzlies.com.
