Men's Basketball 12/18/2021 8:44:00 AM

Griffons Head To Maryville For Battle Of Last League Unbeatens Saturday

After spending the first three weekends of the 2021-22 season in the same gyms but taking on different opponents, Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State finally get the chance to face each other on Saturday afternoon, with first place in the MIAA and the role of the last undefeated team league play on the line. Tipoff for the rivalry game is set for 3:30 p.m. in Maryville, Mo.

Game 13 | Missouri Western at #2 Northwest Missouri
Saturday, December 18
3:30 p.m. | Maryville, Mo.

Griffon Sports Network
680 AM | 95.3 FM | 680kfeq.com/live-stream
Broadcast Team
Tommy Rezac (@TommyKFEQ)
Tom Smith

Broadcast - themiaanetwork.com/mwsugriffons
Live Stats - bearcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
The Coaches
Will Martin
2nd Season | 22-15 (.595)
Ben McCollum
13th Season | 310-79 (.797)
Saturday is the 95th meeting between Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri, with the Griffons trailing 35-59 in the overall series.
After a back-and-forth first half, Missouri Western opened up a 19-point second half lead and rolled to a 79-65 win over Central Missouri. Will Eames hit a career-high six three-pointers en route to 20 points to lead the Griffons to a 4-0 MIAA start for the second consecutive year.
Central Missouri scored first on a 15-foot jumper by Matt Todd, and after JaQuaylon Mays answered with a three for Missouri Western the teams swapped the lead twice more before the Mules managed to sustain a slim lead for most of the opening eight minutes.
After another Mays triple tied it at 16-16, Eames swiped the ball from Todd and passed it to JaRon Thames, who took it the length of the court to put Missouri Western in front. Central Missouri answered briefly, but after picking up a huge block, Eames connected on a pull-up jumper from 10 feet to spark an 8-2 Griffon spurt for a 26-20 lead.
Central Missouri responded with a 10-2 run of its own to take a short-lived 30-28 lead, but the Griffons closed out the half with a 14-5 run to go into the locker room with a 42-35 lead.
Missouri Western continued the run after the intermission, extending it to a 27-7 spurt and a 55-37 lead with 16:19 left in the game. Central Missouri was able to capitalize on a 10-minute shooting lull by the Griffons to pull within a 65-59 deficit, but after the media timeout Thames rekindled the MWSU offense with a pair of free throw makes after the Griffs had missed three of their previous four freebies.
The Griffons extended back to a 13-point lead on an Eames triple with 3:23 left and held on for a 14-point win.
The Missouri Western men’s basketball team suffered its sixth straight loss Tuesday as they fell to No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, 79-56, inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Missouri Western got off to a slow start as they missed their first seven shots and fell behind 7-0. The Griffons went back-and-forth with the Bearcat and were down 14-8 midway through the first half, but then Northwest went on an 11-2 run to build a 15 point advantage and they eventually led 34-16 at the break. Missouri Western shot just 21.4% (6-28) in the first half and went 1-of-11 from behind the three-point line.
The Griffons got off to a hot start after halftime as they made five of their first six shots and went on a 13-4 run to pull within nine, 38-29, but that was as close as they’d get the rest of the way.
No. 3 Northwest made 11 of their first 16 second half shots in the second half and their lead grew to as many as 27 points in the second half as they won their 19th consecutive game in the series.
For the second straight year, Missouri Western started the conference slate 4-0. The Griffons started the 2020-21 season 4-0, with wins at Rogers State (68-55 OT), against Lincoln (89-73), against Central Missouri (100-81) and at Northeastern State (103-82) before dropping their fifth conference game to Pittsburg State (87-84) on the road.
Before 2020-21, the last time Missouri Western opened league play with three wins was the 1998-99 season. The Griffons downed Central Missouri 84-71 at home then picked up road wins at Truman (71-67) and Missouri-Rolla (76-59) before falling 75-53 at Washburn.
With makes in all 12 contests to open the season, Missouri Western continues to extend its school record with 499 consecutive games with a made three-pointer. The last time MWSU didn’t make a three-point field goal in a game was February 4, 2004 at Emporia State when the Griffons went 0-of-7 in a 70-53 loss to the Hornets.
Over the stretch, Missouri Western has shot a respectable 34.3 percent (3779-11018) from distance. The best full-season pace during the run came during the 2010-11 season as the Griffs nailed almost two of every five from downtown, hitting at a 37.4 percent (246-657) clip.
Saturday features a matchup of the two most-prolific three-point shooting teams in the league. Missouri Western comes into the game hitting 38.0 percent from behind the arc, second in the league to NWMSU's 40.6 percent pace, and averages 9.3 makes per game to 11.4 for the Bearcats.
On the flip side, Missouri Western is considerably better defensively, holding opponents to 31.5 percent from deep, fifth-best in the league. The Bearcats rank 12th in the MIAA, allowing a 36.5 percent success rate.
With the addition of 7-footer J.C. Anthony to regular rotations in the lineup, Missouri Western has shot up the league block rankings and now ranks first with 4.00 per game. Rogers State is second, turning away 3.40 shots per contest.
Individually, Alex John ranks fourth in the league with 1.17 blocks per game and has a rejection in all but two (Embry-Riddle, Henderson State) of Missouri Western’s games. Anthony’s pace of 1.3/gm will put him first in the league as soon as he hits the 75-percent minimum games played threshold.
Missouri Western finished No. 2 in the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage defense at 33.8% last year. Through 12 games this season, the Griffons have tightened up, allowing just 31.5% shooting from downtown, good for fifth in the league.
With the upset of RV/#17 Oklahoma Baptist to open the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic, Will Martin collected his fourth victory over a ranked team in his young tenure. The Griffons are 4-2 against teams ranked in the top 25 under Will Martin, and 2-0 in regular season games against top-10 foes.
Jan. 9, 2021 - W 74-67 vs. #5 Washburn
Feb. 6, 2021 - L 70-64 at #3 Northwest Mo. St.
Feb. 9, 2021 - L 79-56 vs. #3 Northwest Mo. St.
Feb. 19, 2021 - W 81-77 at #15 Washburn
Nov. 7, 2021 - W 93-82 vs. #8/#12 St. Thomas Aquinas
Nov. 19, 2021 - W 74-71 vs. RV/#17 Oklahoma Baptist
Missouri Western returned to the win column in overtime against William Jewell, after dropping both of their previous forays into the extra five minute period (83-77 vs. RV Embry-Riddle; 81-77 vs. Henderson State) this year.
It marks the third overtime win under head coach Will Martin, as the Griffons won both of their bonus basketball outings (68-55 at Rogers State, 84-76 vs. Lincoln) on the 2020-21 slate.
Making his debut as the “Voice of the Griffs” this season is Tommy Rezac. Joining Rezac for a majority of our home broadcasts is Griffon Hall of Famer Tom Smith. Danielle Sachse will be providing color commentary when Missouri Western is on the road this year.
For the 20th year, KFEQ 680 AM/95.3 FM is the home of the Griffon Sports Network, and Rezac also hosts the weekly Missouri Western Coaches Luncheon at the Hi-Ho Bar and Grill, carried on JoeTown 107.5.