ST. JOSEPH – The Sundance Wicks era began with a nail-biting loss to Tarleton State in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at Civic Arena. Wicks’ Missouri Western men’s basketball team fell 78-76 to the Texans, who are receiving votes in the NCBA top-25.

Tarleton State made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to break a 76-76 tie and Lavon Hightower’s attempt at his fifth three-pointer of the game went off the rim at the buzzer.

NOTABLES

• Tarleton State scored its final four points at the free throw line
• Missouri Western led 74-71 with 2:45 left on two Tyus Millhollin free throws
• Tarleton State tied the game at 74 on a three
• Millhollin gave the Griffons the lead again with two more free throws with 1:37 left
• The game was tied eight times with three lead changes
• Missouri Western took its first lead of the game on a Hightower jumper with 12:59 to go
• The Griffons never trailed again until the final two free throws
• Tartleton State out-rebounded the Griffons 44-34

LEADERS

• Hightower led all scorers with 26 points, four short of matching his career high. He did set a new career mark with four made threes. The senior also led the Griffons with eight rebounds and four assists.
• Tyus Millhollin scored 15 points in his Griffon debut, going 6-for-6 at the line and 3-of-7 from three
• Bryan Hudson had eight points, going 4-of-4 at the free throw line
• Tyrell Carroll scored six points in his collegiate debut, going 3-of-5 from the field
• Sam Siganos led the Griffons in plus minus, with MWSU outscoring the Texans by 15 when the transfer guard was on the floor

UP NEXT

• The road doesn’t get any easier for the new-look Griffons on Sunday
• Missouri Western faces (RV) Fairmont State, which took defending national champion No. 13 Ferris State to the wire Saturday afternoon at Civic Arena 78-76.

— MWSU Athletics —

KEARNEY, Neb. – Griffon Football scored 19 unanswered second half points to rally on the road for the second time in three weeks. Missouri Western’s come-from-behind 25-17 win at Nebraska-Kearney gave the Griffons six wins for the first time since 2015, guaranteeing a winning season for the program.

Down 17-6 at halftime, the Griffons shut the Lopers out in the second half; passed for one touchdown and rushed for two more to complete the comeback.

NOTABLES

• Missouri Western rushed for more than 150 yards in the second half after being limited to 44 in the first half and held the Lopers to 84 rushing yards in the second half after giving up 192 in the first.
• The Griffons picked off two Nebraska-Kearney passes and recovered a Loper fumble, while not turning the ball over at all, themselves
• Missouri Western stayed under 100 yards in penalties, getting flagged nine times for 65 yards
• MWSU limited UNK to just 93 passing yards
• The win secured the first winning season for the Griffons since going 6-5 in 2015

LEADERS

• Keylan Mack caught seven passes for 91 yards, coming nine yards shy of becoming the first Griffon receiver to hit 100 yards since Elijah Cunningham did it last year
• James Bailey Jr. rushed 16 times for 91 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry with one of the Griffons’ three touchdowns
• Dom Marino averaged 6.5 yards per carry on 10 rushes and was 13-for-23 through the air for 172 yards and a touchdown pass to Cameron Grandy
• James Huskey had 11 total tackles, eight solo, one for loss
• Jabbar Miles finished with 10 tackles
• Vayante Copeland and Anthony Williams had the interceptions. Williams also had seven tackles
• Luke Theis only needed to punt three times, but made the most of it, averaging 49.3 yards per punt with two over 50 yards and one inside the 20

UP NEXT
Missouri Western goes for its seventh win of the season in the final regular season game of the year. The Griffons host Lindenwood on senior day, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

HAYS, Kan. – Griffon Volleyball needed a win to keep its season alive and the Griffons got it Saturday at Fort Hays State. After dropping the first set to the Tigers, Missouri Western bounced back to take the last three sets and advance to the MIAA Championships as the No. 8 seed.

NOTABLES

• The Griffons did their part, Saturday, but still needed some help to get in the postseason and got it by Pittsburg State losing 3-0 at Washburn
• Missouri Western will be the No. 8 seed, but will have to await the result of the Northwest Missouri at Nebraska-Kearney match to know where they’ll go to play in the tournament’s first round, Nov. 6. A UNK win will send the Griffons back to Kearney, Nebraska. A win by Northwest Missouri and the Griffons will play at Washburn
• Four Griffons had double-digit kills
• After hitting .098 in the first set, the Griffons rebounded with a .297 hitting percentage in the second set
• Missouri Western limited Fort Hays State to .189, .000 and.044 hitting percentages after allowing the Tigers to hit .270 in the first

LEADERS

• Rachel Losch led MWSU with 12 kills and added three total blocks to tie for the team-high
• Ali Tauchen also had three blocks to go with 11 kills on a .360 hitting percentage and a team-high 15 digs
• Stephanie Doak had 11 kills and Sam Duncan had 10
• Liv Winker led the team with 28 assists and also had 11 digs

UP NEXT

• The MIAA Championships, Tuesday, Nov. 6 against an opponent to be determined.

  — MWSU Athletics —

EMPORIA, Kan. – Missouri Western Cross Country raced at the MIAA Championships in Emporia on Saturday. The women’s team placed seventh in the 6K with an average time of 24:02. The men finished 11th with an average time of 27:48 in the 8K race.

The women’s team was led by Megan Gillen. Gillen had a career day, finishing with a career-best time of 23:08 in the 6K. Gillen finished 17th, which is 22 spots improved from her finish at the MIAA Championships last season.

Kelsey Cox was the next Griffon to cross the finish. Cox placed 24th with a time of 23:27. Allison Goos also placed in the top-half of the field, coming in at 41st with a time of 23:54.

Missouri Western Men’s Cross Country rounded out the field in 11th. Riley Gorham led the team with a 34th place finish. Gorham earned his second-best time of the season in the 8K race at 27:01.

Freshman Andrew Wright finished in the top-50 at 27:29. Brandon Colner was not far behind and crossed the finish line at 27:47.

Missouri Western Cross Country will have two weeks off before both teams head to the NCAA Central Region Championships on November 3 in Joplin, Missouri.

— MWSU Athletics —

HAYS, Kan. – Missouri Western Soccer (12-7, 7-4 MIAA) lost in the first round of the MIAA Championships to Fort Hays State (11-6-2, 8-3 MIAA) on Wednesday. The Griffons were unable to score on the Tiger defense and fell by a score of 3-0. They will now wait for the final regional rankings with hopes of making the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

NOTABLES

• With the first round loss, Missouri Western is eliminated from the MIAA Championships.
• The Griffons will now wait for the reveal of the NCAA Division II National Tournament field. The selection show will be Sunday evening.
• To make the tournament, Missouri Western will have to be in the top-eight of their region. The Griffons entered Wednesday’s game ranked eighth in the Central Region.
• If Wednesday’s loss was the last time that this year’s senior class suited up for the Griffons, then it was a remarkable run. This year’s graduating class will leave Missouri Western as the winningest class in program history.

STATS AND LEADERS

• The Griffons fell victim to two impressive shots by the Tigers, as two of Fort Hays State’s goals were scored from more than 20 yards out.
• Claire Meyers and Taylor Schwartzkopf both finished with two shots and one shot on goal.
• Missouri Western totaled seven shots in the loss.
• The Tigers ended the game with nine shots on goal.
• Madeline Cowell, Bailey Ketcham, Jordan Jennings, and Anna Mayer played all 90 minutes for the Griffons.

— MWSU Athletics —

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Missouri Western soccer team (12-6, 7-4 MIAA) lost at Central Missouri (14-3-1, 8-2-1 MIAA) Sunday 4-0 in its final game of the regular season.

NOTABLES

• The Jennies scored their first goal in the 10^th minute and held the lead for the rest of the game.
• The Griffons allowed the game’s next goal in the 22^ndminute and went into halftime down 2-0.
• Central Missouri scored two goals late to take the 4-0 win.
• The Jennie won the rematch in the team’s second matchup of the season. Missouri Western ended the Jennies’ 32-game win streak with a 1-0 victory on September 21.

STATS AND LEADERS

• Cassidy Menke finished with a game-high six shots.
• The Griffons recorded 11 shots with four shots on goal.
• The Jennies had just two more shots on goal than the Griffons.
• Taylor Schwartzkopf ended the game with two shots and one shot on goal.

UP NEXT

Griffon Soccer will make its fifth-straight appearance in the MIAA Women’s Soccer Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 31. Missouri Western will be the No. 5 seed and opens the postseason at No. 4-seeded Fort Hays State.

The first round game will begin at 6 p.m. in Hays, Kansas. It will be the third time in five years the Griffons travel to Hays for the first round of the MIAA Championships. Missouri Western ended the regular season with a 7-4 conference record, earning 21 conference points. Emporia State and Fort Hays State tied for third with 8-3 records and 24 points. Emporia State earned the No. 3-seed by way of head-to-head tiebreaker over Fort Hays State.

Regular season champion Central Oklahoma is the No. 1 seed with defending national champion Central Missouri seeded second.

Missouri Western went 12-6 overall in the regular season, the second most wins in program history. Now the Griffons return to the site of two heartbreaking MIAA Championships first round losses. The Griffons lost 1-0 in two overtimes at Fort Hays State in their first-ever appearance in the postseason (2014). Two years ago in the first round, Fort Hays State won on penalty kicks after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. Fort Hays State defeated MWSU 2-1 on Oct. 5 this season.

Winners of Wednesday’s first round games will advance to the semifinals on Nov. 2 to be hosted by highest remaining seed in the tournament. The MIAA Championships final will be played on Nov. 4.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Five costly turnovers spoiled an otherwise impressive performance by the Griffon Football team against Pittsburg State (7-2), Saturday. Missouri Western (5-4) out-gained the Gorillas by 126 yards, but fell 34-14 in the Rogers Pharmacy Hall of Fame Game.

NOTABLES

• The Griffon defense limited what was the MIAA’s second best rushing team coming into Saturday to 125 yards on 46 carries, a 2.7-yard per carry average
• Missouri Western averaged nearly seven yards per carry, rushing 39 times for 265 on the MIAA’s third-ranked rush defense
• A four-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard Shamar Griffith touchdown on the Griffons first drive of the second half cut the Gorilla lead to 24-14. Pittsburg State answered with a 95-yard return touchdown on the ensuing kickoff
• The kickoff return touchdown was the only TD for the Gorillas in the second half
• Missouri Western entered having thrown four interceptions and six lost fumbles, but threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles to Pittsburg State
• The Griffons were penalized nine times for 122 yards with Pittsburg State losing 96 yards on 11 penalties

LEADERS

• Shamar Griffith led the Griffon running game with 78 yards on five carries for a 15.6-yard average per carry
• Dom Marino rushed for 69 yards and threw for 87 yards
• Wyatt Steigerwald completed 6-of-15 passes for 53 yards and had a touchdown pass taken away due to a penalty
• Anthony Williams led the defense with 12 total tackles

UP NEXT

• The Griffons travel to Nebraska Kearney (4-5) Nov. 3 for an 11 a.m. kickoff
• The Lopers scored 28 second half points in a 42-35 loss at Central Missouri, Saturday

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Volleyball sent its three seniors off with a three-set victory, Saturday night. After honoring the senior class of Shelby Taylor, Rachel Losch and Audrey Keim pre-match, Missouri Western (14-15, 6-10) made quick work of Missouri Southern (3-23, 3-13).

In the final home match for the three seniors, the Griffons produced their highest hitting percentage in a match since the first match of the season and remained in contention for the postseason with one week remaining in the regular season.

NOTABLES