BOLIVAR, Mo. – A half-court buzzer beater at the end of the first half gave Southwest Baptist (11-4, 3-3) its first lead that the team never relinquished in a 76-69 win over the Missouri Western women’s basketball team Thursday night.

NOTABLES
– It was the most points allowed by 10, by the Griffons this season
– SBU shot better than 60% from the field in the game, 15% better than any Griffon opponent this season
– Three Griffons fouled out of the game (Dwanisha Tate, Melia Richardson and Erin Anderson)
– Missouri Western forced 27 SBU turnovers but were outscored off turnovers, 22-21
– Chelsea Dewey scored a career-high 27 points, 21 in the first half
– Megan Rosenbohm’s half-court buzzer beater before halftime gave SBU its first lead of the game, 40-38

TOP PERFORMERS
– Dewey led all scorers with 27, boing 9-16 from the field with five rebounds, four assists and four steals
– Julia Torres had a team-high eight rebounds to go with her 10 points
– Dwanisha Tate scored 12 points with a team-high five steals

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (12-4, 4-3) travels to Central Missouri (12-2, 5-1) Monday night for a game originally scheduled for this Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team won its first MIAA game of the season Saturday inside the MWSU Fieldhouse as they defeated Missouri Southern 71-60.

NOTABLES
– The Griffons beat the Lions for the first time since December 7, 2011 when MSSU was ranked #1 in the nation.

– MWSU shot a season best 43.5 percent from the three-point arc, with a first half percentage of 54.5 percent.

– Missouri Western went on a 22-2 run, started by a 14-0 at 16:21 in the first half to take the lead and never give it up.

– Missouri Southern’s 60 points, is its lowest scoring total of the season.

– For the fourth time in five games, the Griffons have scored 71 points or more.

TOP PERFORMERS
– Cole Clearman and Joe Hamilton combined for nine three-pointers and shot 56.2 percent.

– Aaron Emmanuel scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.

– Mason Hughes came off the bench for a season best and game high four blocked shots.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (5-10, 1-5) travels to Southwest Baptist  (9-5, 2-3) on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team bounced back from their loss to No. 6 Pittsburg State Thursday with a 77-65 win over Missouri Southern (9-6, 4-2 MIAA) on Saturday afternoon inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western shot nearly 53 percent from the field in the game
– The Griffons shot better than 69 percent from the field in the first quarter and just more than 57 percent in the second quarter
– Missouri Western sustained a 14-3 Missouri Southern run in the fourth quarter that cut a 17-point MWSU lead down to six
– The Griffons outscored Missouri Southern 10-4 over the final two minutes
– It was the third straight win in the series for Missouri Western after losing seven of the previous eight

TOP PERFORMERS
– Julia Torres led Missouri Western with 17 points, one of five Griffons in double figures
– Melia Richardson matched a season-high set Thursday with 11 points
– Chelsea Dewey had a team-high eight assists
– Torres and Dewey tied for the team-lead with six rebounds each

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (12-3, 4-2 MIAA) hits the road for two games next week. First the team plays at Southwest Baptist (10-4, 2-3) on Thursday, Jan. 12 before looking to even the season series at Central Missouri (11-2, 4-1) on Saturday, Jan. 14.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team is now the only winless team in the MIAA as they lost to Pittsburg State 70-53 Thursday inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.  The Griffons fall to 4-10 and they’re 0-5 in league play.

NOTABLES
– MWSU was able to cut the PSU lead to seven at the half but would not get any closer.

– The Griffons found life at the 14 minute mark in the second half, cutting the Gorilla lead from 20 to 11 with a 9-0 run.

– 53 points scored snaps Missouri Western’s three game streak of scoring 76 points or more in a game.

– Pittsburg State’s 30 made field goals ties the season high given up by MWSU this season.

– The Gorillas were just three of nine from the free-throw line, both season lows for a Missouri Western opponent.

TOP PERFORMERS
– Seth Bonifas tied a career high with 14 points, going five of eight from the field.

– Joe Hamilton grabbed seven rebounds, tying his season best.

– Jonathon Mesmacque went two of two from the three-point arc, his best percentage of the season.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (4-10, 0-5) hosts Missouri Southern (10-4, 4-1) on Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team lost at home Thursday night to No. 6 Pittsburg State 57-43 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

NOTABLES
– First time losing back-to-back MIAA home games since 2015 (Emporia State and Pittsburg State)

– Pittsburg State closed the game on a 15-5 run, outscoring the Griffons 17-8 in the fourth quarter

– 16-3 run by MWSU to open the third quarter gave Missouri Western the lead with 4:11 left in the third

– Pittsburg State closed the first half on a 12-0 run to take an 12-point lead to the break, 31-19.

– Missouri Western’s top three scorers entering the game (Dwanisha Tate, Chelsea Dewey and Julia Torres) went 4-24 from the field and scored 10 total points

– Missouri Western limited Pittsburg State to 39.6% from the field and 57 points. The Gorillas entered averaging 45.1% and 782 points

TOP PERFORMERS
– Sefulu Faavae scored a team-high 15 points to go with her team-high four steals

– Melia Richardson scored a season-high 11 points

– Chelsea Dewey and Erin Anderson each had five rebounds, most on the team

– Madison Northcutt led all scorers with 25 points and added 11 rebounds for Pittsburg State

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (11-3, 3-2) hosts Missouri Southern (9-5, 4-1) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western’s Chelsea Dewey has been named MIAA Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week.  Dewey was vital for the Griffons in their upset win at previous unbeaten #19 Central Oklahoma.

The senior guard from Gower, Missouri scored a team-high 17 point and dished out a team leading six assists in the 67-57 win.  She was a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line and was 3-6 from the three-point arc. This is the first Athlete of the Week honor for Dewey and MWSU on the season.

Missouri Western returns home on Thursday, January 5 as they host #6 Pittsburg State at 5:30 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – Two members of the 2016 Missouri Western football team have received more postseason honors.

Offensive lineman Travis Anderson and running back Josh Caldwell were named second team Don Hansen All-Super Region Three. It was the second all-region selection for both Griffons, who were also named second team D2CCA All-Region.

Both Griffons were also named first team All-MIAA following the season. It was the third Don Hansen All-Region for Anderson and the first for Caldwell.

Anderson became a three-time first team All-MIAA offensive lineman, starting all but one game over the past three seasons and blocking for a 1,000-yard rusher each of those seasons (Raphael Spencer-2014 & 15, Caldwell-16).

Caldwell led the MIAA with 1,453 rushing yards in his first season as the Griffons’ feature back. The sophomore was also named first team CoSIDA Academic All-District and second team CoSIDA Academic All-America.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team won its third consecutive game Monday night, beating Haskell Indian Nations 88-69. The Griffons shot a season best 55.2 percent from the field and had five players scoring in double figures for the first time this season.

HEADLINES
– Aaron Emmanuel set a career high, scoring 25 points for MWSU.
– The Griffons forced 16 turnovers, the second most of the season.
– 88 points is the most points for Missouri Western since last season’s win over Lindenwood and the second straight game the team has achieved a season-high point total.
– Haskell made just three free throws, finishing with a 33.3 percent from the free-throw line.

TOP PERFORMERS
– Aaron Emmanuel — along with his game high 25 points — grabbed seven rebounds, dished out five assists and went 5-6 at the free-throw line and 10-13 from the field.
– Cole Clearman was a perfect 4-4 at the free-throw line and has made 12 of his last 12 at the charity stripe over the last two games; he was also 3-6 from the three-point arc,  ending with 17 points.
– Joe Hamilton and TJ Evans combined for 24 points, including six three-pointers.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (4-8, 0-3) returns to MIAA play on the road with a New Year’s Eve trip to Central Oklahoma (7-3, 2-1).

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team did what they were supposed to Monday night, shooting better than 53 percent from the field and dominating Haskell 99-40 for the team’s 10th win of the season.

HEADLINES
– All 12 Griffons scored in the game
– Missouri Western didn’t allow double-digit points in any of the first three quarters
– The Griffons scored 40 points off 30 Haskell turnovers
– Missouri Western out-rebounded Haskell 40-18

TOP PERFORMERS
– Erin Anderson led the Griffons with 14 points on 5-9 shooting from the field
– Lakota Goe had a team-high and career-high seven rebounds
– Sefulu Faavae had a team-high six assists
– Savannah Lentz and Julia Torres each scored 13; Trudy Peterson had 12 and Dwanisha Tate added 10 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western (10-2, 2-1) returns to MIAA play on the road with a New Year’s Eve trip to Central Oklahoma (10-0, 3-0).

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team won back-to-back games for the first time this season Sunday as they were able to defeat Baker inside the MWSU Fieldhouse 78-62.

HEADLINES
– The 78 points scored were the most for the team this season, better than the 73 in a loss at William Jewell
– It was the second straight win for the team which is now 3-8
– Missouri Western closed the game on a 16-2 run, after leading by just two with 4:05 left
– The Griffons shot better than 47 percent from the field and missed just two free throws (20-22)

TOP PERFORMERS
– TJ Evans scored a career-high 25 points on 50% shooting from the field (8-16)
– Cole Clearman was 6-9 from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line, scoring 19 of his 22 points in the second half
– Beau Baker had a team-high six rebounds

UP NEXT
Missouri Western improves to 3-8 this season as they’re back in action Monday.  The women and men play a doubleheader against Haskell Indian Nations beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.  Both game will air on 680 KFEQ or you can click here to listen.

— MWSU Athletics —