Missouri Western sophomore running back Raphael Spencer was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career after his 193 yard two touchdown performance against Washburn last weekend.

For the third time this season Spencer ran for over 150 yards as he went for 193 on 27 carries with two touchdowns. Spencer has now rushed for over 100 yards six times this season. He leads the team with 11 rushing touchdowns and is now averaging 124 yards per game and 6.8 yards per carry.

He has rushed for 1240 yards on the season and has scored a touchdown in seven of the Griffons 10 games. His 47-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter helped the Griffons seal the victory over the 15th ranked Washburn Ichabods. The 5-9 sophomore running back is a native of Kansas City, Mo. and competed at O’Hara High School.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western men’s basketball team played hard but came up short against the Northern State Wolves 87-78 in the final game of the Sanford Pentagon Showcase. The Griffons had three players finish in double figures with Dareon Jones leading the charge with 18 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. The Griffons fall to 1-1 with the loss.

The Griffons played well in the first seven minutes of the game scoring twenty points and taking a 20-12 lead after two Ryan Devers free throws with 12:51 to play in the frame. The Griffons used a 14-5 run to build its lead. The Griffons continued to play well building its lead to 10 at 25-15 with 10:39 to play in the half after Kalvin Balque hit two free throws.

Unfortunately the Griffon offense went cold the rest of the half scoring just 11 points to Northern State’s 29. The Griffons went into the half down 44-36. In the half the Griffons shot 38.5-percent (10-26) from the field but shot well from from behind the arc making 5-of-10 and from the free throw line sinking 11-of-13. Adarius Fulton and Cortrez Colbert each had nine points in the half.

The Wolves shot 55.2-percent (16-29) from the field and 66.7-percent (6-9) from long range. They were led by Skye Warwick with 15 points. He got all of his points on three point shots going 5-for-5 in the frame.

In the second half the Wolves extended their lead to 13 a couple different times, but the Griffons kept playing hard making Northern work hard for the win. The Griffons cut the Wolves lead to four going on an 10-2 run which was capped by a Colbert layup with 9:40 to play.

The Wolves extended its lead to eight once again after two Seth Bachand free throws but MWSU used a 8-0 run which was capped by a three point play by Dever cutting the NSU lead to 72-70 with 5:04 to play.

The rest of the way would be all Nortern State as they hit their free throws and some big shots down the stretch. They outscored the Griffons 15-8 the final five minutes picking up the nine point win and evening its record to 1-1 on the season.

The Griffons shot just 40.4-percent (23-57) in the game and 30-percent (6-20) from long range. The made just 1-of-10 three point shots in the second half. They did shoot free throws well making 26-of-31 with Devers and Colbert combining to make 17-19. Devers finished with 17 points and four assists while Colbert scored 16 points with five rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves shot the ball extremely well making 28-of-52 which included 7-of-15 from long range. They also made 24-of-36 free throw attempts. The Wolves were ld by Bachand with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Warick finished with 22 points and Michael Schreiber dumped in 13.

The Griffons return to action on Wednesday, November 13 with a non-conference contest against NAIA opponent Midland University out of Freemont, Neb. Game time is set for 7:00 pm from the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The 22nd ranked Missouri Western football team snapped a two game losing streak defeating the 15th ranked Washburn Ichabods 34-31 in Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl. The Griffons survied a frantic comeback attempt by the Ichabods as they scored 14 points in the final two minutes. Michael Jordan’s recovery on an onside kick attempt with 28 second to go seal the Griffons victory helping them improve to 8-2 overal land 7-2 in MIAA play.

The Griffons opened up the scoring in the first quarter when Travis Partridge connected on a two yard pass to Derek Libby capping an eight play 80 yard drive. The Ichabods responded on the next possession going 68 yards on seven plays which was capped by a Joel Piper 18 yard pass to DaJuan Beard tieing the score at seven with 14:52 to play in the second quarter.

Missouri Western took control the rest of the half scoring the final ten points. Raphael Spencer scored his first touchdown of the game with 10:55 to play capping a nine play 75 yard drive giving the Griffons a 14-7 lead. MWSU scored against when John Schmiemeier connected on a 43 yard field goal with 2:12 left in the half giving the Griffons the 17-7 halftime lead.

In the second half the Ichabods cut the Griffon led to 17-10 when Justin Linn connected on a 28 yard field goal with 9:33 to play in the third. The Griffons responded once again when Partrdige rushed in from one yard out giving the Griffons the 24-10 lead with 4:48 to play in the third.

The score stayed that way until late in the fourth when Schmiemeier connected on his second field goal of the game this time from 36 yards out giving MWSU the 27-10 lead with 4:19 to play. The rest of the game would be a little crazy as the Ichabods would scored 21 points with Piper connecting to Tore’ Hurst from five yards out, Beard from nine yards and Mark Fancher from 27 yards out. Fortunate for the Griffons they recovered all three on-side kick attempts and got a 47 yard rushing touchdown from Spencer giving them the victory.

The Griffons finished with 452 total yards with 319 coming on the ground. Spencer rushed for 193 on 27 carries while Partridge rushed for 77 on 16 carries. Dominic Thomas finished with 37 yards. In the air Partridge connected on 12-of-20 passes for 133 yards with Stephon Weaver catching four passes for 55 yards. On defense Stephen Juergens led the way with eight tackles while Yomi Alli and Sam Brown each finished with six. Marc Harrison had the Griffons lone interception.

The Ichabods finished with 416 yards with 343 coming through the air. Beard had 13 catches for 182 yards while Piper connected on 26-of-39 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Shay Wooten led the defense with 12 tackles.

The Griffons close out the regular season next weekend on Saturday, November 16 on senior day against #2 Northwest Missouri State University. As of now the game is scheduled to kick at 1:30 pm in Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western men’s basketball coach Brett Weiberg’s first game was a wild one.

The Griffons picked up the win in Weiberg’s debut, knocking off Augustana College 65-64 in the opening game of the Sanford Pentagon Showcase.

The men won after Cortrez Colbert knocked down two game-winning free throws with three seconds remaining in the game. Augustana trailed the whole second half, but with less than 10 seconds to go, Vikings guard Ethan Guske knocked down a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to take a one-point lead.

Afterward, point guard Ryan Devers, who lead the team with 15 points and six assists, missed a layup with four seconds to go, but Colbert grabbed the offensive rebound and was immediately fouled.

Colbert made both of his attempts to go ahead 65-64, and Augustana missed a 3 at the buzzer.

The Griffons were behind for the majority of the first frame. Adarius Fulton made a 3 to take a 29-28 lead with 2 minutes, eight seconds left in the half. Missouri Western extended its lead to 34-30 at halftime.

Cedric Clinkscales’ layup made it 39-33 to mark the biggest lead of the night for the Griffons. After that, both teams went back-and-fourth, but Missouri Western never relinquished the lead until nine seconds to play.

Hans Thun led the team with eight rebounds. Clinkscales added five boards, four offensively. Colbert placed second on the team with 14 points, behind Devers, who had a game-high 37 minutes. Augustana was led by Daniel Jansen, who had 17 points. As a team, the Griffons had nine steals. The Griffons were outrebounded 44-35, but the Vikings had 17 turnovers compared to Missouri Western’s eight.

The Griffons return to the court tomorrow at 2 p.m. They play Northern State to finish out the showcase.

— MWSU Sports Information —