ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western Men’s Basketball team saved some of its best for last, coming back in the final minutes to knock off Central Missouri, 63-62, and seal up the 11-seed in the upcoming MIAA Tournament.

Aaron Emmanuel made two free throws with 1:03 left to give Missouri Western the 63-62 lead and the Griffon defense held up with Emmanuel picking up a steal on Central Missouri’s final possession to seal the win. In a game that went back and forth with nine lead changes, Central Missouri looked to have control late in the second half. The Mules led by seven with 10 to go, but an 8-0 Griffon run gave Missouri Western the lead with 6:58 left. UCM recaptured the lead and the game would be tied three times in the final five minutes.

Miles Wentzien was the only Griffon in double figures, leading the way with 16 points. The freshman was 5-7 from the field and 4-5 from behind the arc. Kevin Thomas scored nine and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. Aaron Emmanuel scored eight with six rebounds and nine assists.

Northeastern State’s loss to Nebraska-Kearney earlier in the day put Missouri Western in the MIAA Tournament field, but the win helped the Griffons move up a seed. They will open the tournament at fifth seeded Washburn on Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western baseball team surrendered three runs in the top of the 10th inning to drop its first home game of the season Friday 6-3 to Washburn.

The Griffons tied the game at three in the bottom of the ninth. D’Andre Heggie led off the ninth with a pinch hit double to the right field corner. Marcus Brown entered as a pinch runner for Heggie and scored three batters later when Orencio Fisher roped his first hit of the day into left for a single. The first two Washburn batters in the 10th singled before the third reached on a fielder’s choice. An error charged to Jeremy Alvarado at third base allowed Washburn’s fourth run to score. Richard Peoples would allow two more in the inning on a double and another on a sacrifice fly. Peoples took the loss and fell to 1-1 on the year.

Cosimo Cannella went 2-3 for Missouri Western, also drawing a walk, scoring a run and riving one in. Landon Mason finished 2-4. Weston Caindec got the start and went six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits. Two of the runs came in the first on a two-out home run to left. Preston Bailey allowed two hits and struck out four in three innings of relief.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH, MO. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team earned a dominating 9-0 victory over Truman State to move their record to 4-0 on the season.

The Griffons earned three wins in doubles competition. Yasmine El Ghazi and Sofia Aguilera took the No. 1 doubles match 8-4. The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches earned 8-4 victories as well over the Bulldogs to give the Griffons a 3-0 lead heading into singles matches.

Singles action saw the Griffons sweep play on all six courts. Sofia Aguilera controlled her match from the start with a 6-0, 6-2 victory and Yasmine El Ghazi followed suit with a 6-1, 6-3 win at the No. 2 singles spot. Denise Chiao and Joanna Roman Abreu also earned convincing wins over their opponents in the No. 4 and No. 5 spot. Lindsay Beger earned a victory over Elise Mousseau 1-6, 6-4, 10-6 to complete the Griffon sweep.

Singles competition
1. Aguilera, Sofia (MWSU) def. Lauren Jin (TSU) 6-0, 6-2
2. El Ghazi, Yasmine (MWSU) def. Marisa Thome (TSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Giraldo, Sarah (MWSU) def. Lindsey Schlichting (TSU) 6-4, 6-7, 10-7
4. Abreu Roman, Joanna (MWSU) def. Savannah Everett (TSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Chiao, Denise (MWSU) def. Holly Cantalupo (TSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Beger, Lindsay (MWSU) def. Elise Mousseau (TSU) 1-6, 6-4, 10-6

Doubles competition
1. Aguilera, Sofia/El Ghazi, Yasmine (MWSU) def. Lindsey Schlichting/Marisa Thome (TSU) 8-4
2. Abreu Roman, Joanna/Giraldo, Sarah (MWSU) def. Maura Dunn/Lauren Jin (TSU) 8-4
3. Chiao, Denise/Smith, Meara (MWSU) def. Savannah Everett/Elise Mousseau (TSU) 8-4

The Griffons will be at home on Sunday, March 13 at 12 p.m. against Lindenwood for their next match.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The No. 7 Missouri Western Women’s basketball team used a dominant third quarter to clinch at least a share of the program’s first MIAA Regular Season Championships since 2002 with a 67-57 win over Washburn.

Like the team had done many times this season, the Griffons dominated Washburn in the third quarter to erase a four-point halftime deficit and take an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter. Missouri Western dropped 23 third quarter points and limited Washburn to eight. The surge after the break was sparked by a 6-0 run to end the first half that cut a 10-point Washburn lead with 49 seconds left in the first half to just four points at halftime.

The Missouri Western defense limited Washburn to just eight made field goals and a 40 percent field goal shooting percentage in the second half after the Ichabods shot 62 percent in the first half. Missouri Western actually made one fewer field goal in the second half than the first, but went 10-11 from the free throw line after the break. The Griffons were also able to out-rebound Washburn, winning the battle on the glass 34-29.

Miliakere Koyamainavure led Missouri Western with 16 points and eight rebounds. LaQuinta Jefferson finished with 14 points and Sarafina Handy added 13.

The win also gave Missouri Western a program record, 25 regular season wins and improved on the team’s record MIAA win total with its 19th of the season. The Griffons can clinch the outright championship with a Fort Hays State loss on Thursday or with a Missouri Western win on Saturday. The Griffons close the regular season Saturday, hosting Central Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western Men’s Basketball team picked up a crucial win with a 74-66 victory over Washburn Wednesday night in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The win kept Missouri Western in the hunt for a spot in the MIAA Tournament.

Missouri Western trailed by five with 16:05 to go, but rattled off a 12-0 lead to regain the lead with 14:05 left and never trailed again. Three straight three pointers aided the run with Cole Clearman sinking two and Wes Mitter adding another. The Griffons made just four three pointers in all of the second half. Clearman led Missouri Western with 15 points, shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-9 from long range.

Trey Sampson added 11 points and Currie Byrd finished with 10. Kevin Thomas led Missouri Western on the glass with 11 rebounds and finished with eight points. Miles Wentzien had eight points and six rebounds.

With the win, Missouri Western improved to 10-17 overall and 8-13 in the MIAA. The Griffons sit one half game ahead of Northeastern State for 12th in the MIAA standings, the final qualifying spot for the conference tournament. Northeastern State hosts Fort Hays State Thursday night. Missouri Western will play its final game on Saturday in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

The Missouri Western Women’s Basketball team dropped three spots in this week’s NCAA Division II Central Region Poll.

Despite winning their one game last week, the Griffons fell from No. 1 in the region to No. 4. The first three behind Missouri Western in last week’s rankings jumped over the Griffons, each winning two games last week. Pittsburg State is the new No. 1 followed by Fort Hays at No. 2 and Winona State at No. 3. Fellow MIAA member Emporia State moved up one spot from No. 6 to No. 5. Rounding out the top-10 in order are Arkansas Tech, Northern State, MSU Moorhead, Sioux Falls and Augustana.

The top eight after the completion of conference tournaments will advance to the regional tournament at a site to be determined. Regional tournament games will be played March 11, 12 and 14.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The 16th-ranked Missouri Western softball team wrapped up the Kelly Laas Memorial Invite with a win and a loss on Sunday, going 4-1 on the weekend and bringing head coach Jen Bagley Trotter two wins shy of 500 for her career.

Game 1: #20 Augustana (S.D.) 3, #16 MWSU 1

A two run home run in the first inning was all the cushion No. 20 Augustana would need to snap a four-game winning streak for the 16th ranked Griffons.

Janie Smith surrendered a two-run home run to the third batter she faced then calmed down to keep Augustana off the scoreboard until the fifth. After back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom of the fifth, Smith coaxed a pop-up to the short stop to record the first out of the inning. Shyanne Saladino then replaced Smith and gave up a walk before retiring the next batter on a ground out that scored a run to put Augustana up 3-1. Missouri Western scored its lone run in the third. Two Augustana errors led to the run. Rebekah Mueller singled with one out but was able to advance to second on an error. Morgan Rathmann followed by reaching on an error that allowed Mueller to score.

Rathmann and Shelbie Atwell both went 2-4 at the plate. Missouri Western touched Augustana for six hits but left seven runners stranded. Smith fell to 5-2 on the season, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing three earned runs on 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Saladino went the last inning and two thirds. She did not allow a hit, stuck out one and walked one.

Game 2: #16 MWSU 3, St. Cloud State 0

Saladino picked up her second shutout of the weekend, allowing six baserunners in seven innings and moving her record to 3-2 and ERA to 0.73.

Taylor Hamilton aided the Griffon offensive effort with a 2-3, two RBI performance at the plate. Hamilton drove in Missouri Western’s first run of the game on a single to left center in the first and added another RBI single to right center in the third. Kailey Green drove in the other Griffon run on a single in the fifth. Rathmann went 2-4 in game two with two runs scored.

The win pushed Missouri Western to 8-4 on the season and gave Trotter her 498th career win, all at Missouri Western. She’ll have her first crack at win No. 500 next weekend when the team plays in Joplin, Missouri, at the Teri Mathis Zenner Memorial Tournament. The Griffons will face Drury and Rockhurst on Saturday before taking on Sioux Falls and McKendree on Sunday.

— MWSU Athletics —

MARYVIILLE, Mo. – The seventh-ranked Missouri Western Women’s basketball team matched a program-high 24 regular season wins with a tough, 66-59 victory at Northwest Missouri State.

The Griffons withstood a late push by Northwest Missouri to improve on their record MIAA win total (18). Missouri Western led by 16 with 6:07 left in the third quarter, but Northwest was able toc chip at the lead, getting withing five with 26 seconds left. The Griffons iced it with two free throws from Sarafina Handy. A 12-2 run by Missouri Western to end the first half helped the Griffons take a 38-28 lead to halftime that quickly ballooned to the 16-point lead that was the largest of the game for Missouri Western.

Mhykeah Baez led the Griffons with a career-high 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. LaQuinta Jefferson finished with 16 points and a team-high four assists. Miliakere Koyamainavure finished with 12 points.

The win improved Missouri Western’s record to 24-2 overall and 18-2 in the MIAA. One more win would set a new program record for regular season wins. Missouri Western wraps the regular season next week with home games against Washburn and Central Missouri.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – The 16th-ranked Missouri Western softball team opened the 2016 Kelly Laas Invitational with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota State Friday night.

Katie Klosterman was involved in all the Griffons’ three runs, driving in two with her first home run of the season and scoring the third on Morgan Rathmann’s first triple of 2016. Janie Smith limited Minnesota State to just four hits and one run, coming on a solo shot in the fifth inning. The win improved the 16th-ranked Griffons to 5-3 on the season.

Sydney Washington opened the second with a single then stole second base before Klosterman sent a ball over the left center field wall, putting the Griffons up 2-0. Smith held Minnesota State hitless until the fourth when she surrendered a leadoff single. Klosterman picked up her second extra-base hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth when she led off with a double. She was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Megan Korgie then scored on Rathmann’s triple. Klosterman went 2-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Shelbie Atwell also went 2-3. Rathmann, Taylor Hamilton and Washington had the other Griffon hits.

Dana Mogren picked up the third hit of the day off Smith with a leadoff homer to center in the fifth. Smith committed an error to allow the next batter to reach, but retired the next two and allowed just one more hit, a Mogren single in the seventh, the rest of the way. The win moved Smith to 4-1 on the year. She yielded just the one unearned run on four hits with one strikeout and no walks.

Action continues, Saturday, for Missouri Western at the Kelly Laas Invitational. Missouri Western is set to take on Southwest Minnesota State at 5 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul at 9:30 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —