The Missouri Western men’s basketball team had four players in double figures cruising to an 86-68 victory over the 8th ranked NAIA squad Midland University Warriors. Adarius Fulton dumped in 17 first half points while Dzenan Mrkaljevic scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. The Griffons improve to 2-1 on the season with the victory.

The Griffons used a 23-8 run in the final 10:29 of the first half to claim a 13 point lead at 39-26 at the half over the Warriors. The Griffons were helped by Fulton’s 17 points with 15 coming off long range shots. The five three’s for Fulton ties his career high. He finished going 6-for-10 from the field and 5-of-8 from long range.

The Griffons had 12 points in the paint and eight points off six offensive rebounds. The made 14-of-31 shots and connected on 5-of-8 free throw attempts. Cortrez Colbert had four assists while Fulton had four steals in the frame.

The Warriors made just 10-of-24 field goals and 3-of-6 from long range and the charity stripe. They were led by Hadley Sejkora with six points while Galen Gullie and Jalen Hueser had three rebounds apiece.

The Griffons came out in the second as hot as they ended the first half building its lead to 23 at 53-30 after a Colbert three with 16:20 to play in the second half. The Warriors made a push midway through the second half cutting the Griffon lead to 13 at 71-58, but the Griffons went  on another big run ending any hopes of a Midland comeback.

The Griffons finished the night making 43.5-percent (10-23) long range shots and 50.0-percent (29-58) frmo the field. The Griffons did struggle a little bit from the free throw line making just 18-of-32. Colbert and Devers finished with 14 and 12 points respectively. The Griffons had 16 assists with Colbert and Fulton dishing out six and five respectively. Fulton finished with six of the Griffons 14 steals which was one shy of his career best.

The Warriors fall to 3-1 on the season as they had three players in double digits with Montrel Billups scoring 15 on 6-of-9 shooting. DJ Vaughn and Marcus Franklin had 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 15 as they host the William Jewell Cardinals in the 22nd annual Hillyard Tipoff Classic. Game time is set for 8:00 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women doubled up the Avila Eagles 104-50 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening in the fieldhouse. The 104 points is the most since November 30, 2002 when they scored a all-time high 115 against Southwestern (Kan.). The Griffons improve to 2-0 on the season as Ariana Novak and Tiffanie Abrams both had 14 points.

Another solid defensive performance in the first half helped the Griffons build a 32 point lead at the half over the Eagles. The Griffons made 21 shots with seven coming behind the three point line as they made 65.6-percent of their shots. The Griffons also dominated the rebounds with 18 to the Eagles seven and had seven on the offensive end of the floor which led to 11 second chance points.

Missouri Western trailed just once in the frame at 2-1 and then went on a 16-3 run claiming the 17-4 lead after a layup by Sharniece Lewis. The Griffons continued to dominate play building its lead to 20 at 31-11 wit 7:57 to play after a good free throw shot by Tiffanie Abrams. The rest of the half the Griffons outscored the Eagles 28-16 taking the 59-27 halftime lead.

Ten different players scored for the Griffons with Novak leading the way with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from long range. Lewis was the only other Griffon in double figures with 11. MWSU outscored the Eagles 22-8 in the paint and 38-9 off the bench.

Avila made just six field goals but made 13-of-16 free throws. Sajel Spani had six points while Rebekah Capeder and Kelsey McConnell each pitched in five.

In the second half the Griffons continued their dominace outscoring the Eagles 45-23 and shooting 51.5-percent (17-33) from the field.

The Griffons had 13 players score with five players scoring in double figures. Jaquitta Dever and Lewis had 11 points while Tiara Hall pitched in 10. Hall also led the Griffons with nine of the Giriffons 45 rebounds.

The Griffons had 46 points in the paint and 37 points off 22 Avila turnovers. They also had 60 bench points.

The Eagles fall to 1-5 with the loss as they shot just 34.2-percent (13-38) from the field but made 20-of-28 free throws. Jessia Smith led the way with 13 points.

Head Coach Rob Edmisson is now 8-1 in the month of November and will try and make it 9-1 on Friday, November 15 with a non-conference game against the University of Illinois-Springfield. Game time is set for 6:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western football team sits in 8th place in the Super Region Three rankings which was released Monday afternoon.

Four other MIAA schools are ranked in the poll with Northwest Missouri State sitting in 1st, Pittsburg State 5th, Emporia State 6th and Washburn 9th.

The top two teams in the region get a bye in the first week of the playoffs while four will host five and three will host six on Saturday, November 23.

The Griffons region consists of teams from the Northern Sun Incollegiate Conference, Great American Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

The Griffons are now 8-2 overall and 7-2 in the MIAA and return home for the regular season finale on Saturday against Northwest Missouri State with kickoff set for 2:37 PM.  Prior to the game, we’ll honor the 16 player senior class that with a win will tie the record for the winningest four year class in school history with 38.

SUPER REGION THREE
1     Northwest Missouri State     10-0     10-0
2     Minnesota State-Mankato     10-0     10-0
3     Henderson State     10-0     10-0
4     Minnesota-Duluth     9-1     9-1
5     Pittsburg State     8-1     9-1
6     Emporia State     8-1     8-1
7     St. Cloud State     9-1     9-1
8     Missouri Western State     8-2     8-2
9     Washburn     8-2     8-2
10     Harding     7-2     7-2

— MWSU Sports Information —

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 —