St. Joseph, MO – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team completed the season sweep of Southwest Baptist Saturday with a 71-58 victory over the Bearcats.

The win wrapped the team’s regular season with a 12-14 overall record and an 8-11 mark in MIAA play. They are secured in the MIAA tournament as the 10 seed and will await games tonight to determine where they play their first round game, Monday. Prior to the game, Cortrez Colbert, Zack Price, Dareon Jones and Hans Thun were honored as part of Senior Day festivities.

Missouri Western shot 50 percent from the field and pulled away in the second half after taking a four-point lead to the half. Colbert led the team with 18 points on eight of 17 shooting from the field. Kevin Thomas finished with another double-double, scoring 14 and finishing with 11 rebounds. Thun finished with 12 points.

The Griffons are the No. 10 seed in the MIAA Tournament and will play at No. 7 seed Central Oklahoma at 7:00 p.m. Monday.  The game will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ or online here at StJosephPost.com.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team secured a home game in the opening round of the MIAA tournament with a 78-65 win over Southwest Baptist Saturday.

Following the game, five Griffon seniors were recognized for their contributions to Griffon Athletics. Alex Saxen, Ariana Novak, Tiara Hall, Kyrsten Crawford and Friday Chuol all played their final regular season game inside the fieldhouse.

Missouri Western finished the regular season with a 14-11 overall record and a 9-10 mark in MIAA play.

A slugfest through the first 30 minutes, the Griffons led by five at half but opened it up late in the second half. The Griffons led by one with 11 to go but used an 11-2 run to take a 10-point lead with 5:35 left in the game.

The Griffons were led by LaQuinta Jefferson’s 23 points. Miliakere Koyamainavure finished with a double-double, scoring 152 and pulling down 10 rebounds. Chelsea Dewey scored 15 and had eight rebounds while Novak scored 10 on Senior Day. MWSU won the battle on the boards, pulling down 49 rebounds to the Bearcats’ 35.

Missouri Western is guaranteed a home game Tuesday, March 3 to open the MIAA Tournament. The game will be played at 7 p.m., the opponent is yet to be determined. Stay with gogriffons.com for updates.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s tennis team played its first match of the 2015 season against Maryville Friday afternoon at the Genesis Health Club in St. Joseph and first year head coach Chris Canady and the Griffons defeated Maryville 5-3.

Missouri Western was able to get two victories in the doubles matches. Sarah Giraldo and Yasmine El Ghazi earned a 9-7 victory while Denise Chiao and Kayla Dysart tallied an 8-6 victory. Ceara Boldridge and Sofia Aguilera fell in a closely contested match 6-8.

Sarah Giraldo, Kayla Dysart, and Ceara Boldridge all found success during singles play, battling at the No.1, No. 3, No. 6 singles slots respectively. Giraldo defeated Maryville’s Anderson 6-2, 6-3 and Dysart took down Kleppe 6-2, 6-4. Boldridge was able to dominate early and never looked back against Tietmann winning 6-0, 6-3.

The Griffons will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 4 against rival Northwest Missouri State starting at 12 p.m. The match is expected to be in the Genesis Health Club again.

— MWSU Sports Information —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team was held to a season-low scoring total in a 64-42 loss at No. 12 Central Missouri Wednesday night.

After MWSU scored the first points of the second half to tie the game at 29, Central Missouri scored 22 unanswered points to take a 51-29 lead with 11:02 left in the game. From that point on the Griffons were never closer than 18 points to the defending national champs. The 42 points were a season-low for the team, 12 fewer than they scored in a 54-50 win over Emporia State.

Missouri Western was held to just 38 percent shooting from the field, 27 percent from three-point range and 50 percent at the free throw line. The Griffons turned the ball over 17 times and were outscored by 10 in the paint.

Seth Bonifas led the Griffons with 10 points while Currie Byrd added eight. Cortrez Colbert’s 18-game streak of scoring double-digits was snapped as he went 1-11 from the field and scored just two points.

The loss dropped the Griffons to 11-14 overall and 7-11 in the MIAA. They host Southwest Baptist in the final regular game of the season on Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team overcame two separate double-digit deficits only to come up short in an 82-78 loss at Central Missouri Wednesday night.

Down by 10 with 5:40 to play, MWSU tied the game at 78 with 52 seconds remaining. With 32 seconds left, Breonna Embray hit a three-pointer to put the Jennies up for good.

In what proved to be a back and forth affair, UCM jumped out to a 13-2 lead that quickly evaporated as the Griffons climbed within one with 9:47 left in the first half. The Griffons took the lead with 5:55 to go before halftime and stretched their lead to five points before UCM took control again, taking a three-point lead to halftime. MWSU jumped back ahead early in the second half only to see UCM climb back and regain the lead.

Missouri Western finished 41 percent from the field and missed just one of their 22 free throw attempts while going 3-14 from three point range. They turned the ball over just seven times but were outrebounded 40-30. LaQuinta Jefferson finished with 16 points and Sarafina Handy had 15. Miliakere Koyamainavure added 10 points.

The Griffons take a 13-11 overall record and 8-10 mark into their final regular season game against Southwest Baptist on Saturday in the fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

After picking up a win and a save this past weekend in the Missouri Western baseball teams 3-1 series win at No. 4 Emporia State, Richard Peoples has been named the MIAA/AstroTurf Pitcher of the Week.

The Webb City, Missouri native picked up the win in game two, going three and a third innings and allowing just one hit, while striking out seven in the team’s walk-off winner.

In game four, Peoples picked up the save in an inning and a third of work, giving up three hits and striking out one.

On the season, Peoples is 2-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA, surrendering just one unearned run through 12 innings of work. Peoples is holding opponents to a .205 batting average and has struck out 13.

Through the first week of MIAA action, Missouri Wetsern is tied with Nebraska-Kearney for second place in the conference standings. The Griffons are 3-1 in the MIAA and 6-5 overall.

— MWSU Sports Information —

EMPORIA, Kan. – In a milestone day for coach Buzz Verduzco, the Missouri Western baseball team swept a doubleheader against No. 4 Emporia State, to take the series, 3-1.

Verduzco claimed his 300th MIAA victory in game one. Missouri Western leaves Emporia with a 6-5 record after handing the preseason MIAA favorite their first three losses of the season.

Game 1: MWSU 5, Emporia State 1

Buzz Verduzco earned his 300th MIAA win as Griffon Baseball defeated No. 4 Emporia State for the second straight game, 5-1. For Verduzco, it improved his all-time MIAA record to 300-220, 439-332 overall.

The Griffons opened the game up in the third when Cosimo Cannella and David Glaude hit back-to-back solo home runs to put the team up 4-1. Emporia State jumped out to a 1-0 lead but the Griffons answered in the bottom of the first on Cannella’s sacrifice fly that scored Ryan Degner. MWSU tacked on another in the second on an RBI single from Orencio Fisher and added on more in the sixth on another single from Fisher.

Fisher finished 3-3 with two RBIs. Degner went 2-3 with two runs scored and Trevor LaHonta also went 2-3 with one run scored. A.J. Martinez picked up the win, going five and a third, allowing six hits, one run and striking out three.

Game 2: MWSU 5, Emporia State 3

Emporia State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first that became a 2-2 tie after one for the Griffons. Ryan Degner led off the inning with a triple and scored after Fisher reached on an error. Fisher scored to tie it after another Hornet error allowed him to come home.

MWSU made it a 3-2 lead after four on an RBI single from Trevor LaHonta. The Griffons made Emporia State pay for another error in the fifth when David Glaude scored on a throwing error to put Missouri Western up 4-2. The Hornets added one in the eighth that was answered by the Griffons in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single from Degner.

Banks Born picked up the win, pitching the first three and a third. Richard Peoples picked up the save, going the final inning and a third. LaHonta went 2-3 with two RBIs in the game.

— MWSU Sports Information —

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Missouri Western softball team wrapped up the final day of the Kelly Laas Memorial Invite with two losses on Saturday, dropping the team to 7-7 on the year.

Game 1: Wayne State 3, Missouri Western 2

A late inning rally was stopped short as Griffon Softball dropped a 3-2 decision to Wayne State (Neb.). Much like the first day of the invite, pitching ruled this game. Wayne State plated one in the first off Janie Smith with a sacrifice fly. MWSU found itself in a 2-0 hole after the fifth when Wayne State scored again. MWSU tied the game at two in the sixth on two RBI singles.

Shelbie Atwell drove Sydney Washington in and Kaylie Green’s single brought Atwell across the plate to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Wayne State would go back ahead in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single. The Griffons were retired in order in the top of the seventh on two straight strikeouts and a Morgan Rathmann fly out that ended the game.

Smith took the loss, going six innings and allowing six hits and three earned runs. She walked two and struck out three. Green and Sydney Washington each finished with two hits. Washington went 2-2 with a runs cored while Green was 2-3 with an RBI.

Game 2: St. Cloud State 10, Missouri Western 2

Missouri Western wrapped up the final day of the crossover invite with a loss to host school, St. Cloud State. St. Cloud State improved to 4-5 on the year, winning their second straight game. The loss dropped MWSU to 7-7 on the year. Statistics for this game have not yet been made available.

— MWSU Sports Information —