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Category: Sports

Griffon tennis falls to Northwest Missouri State 5-2

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ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western tennis team (8-5, 0-1 MIAA) lost its first match of the MIAA conference schedule on Thursday, as Northwest Missouri bested the Griffons 5-2 at Genesis Health Club in St. Joseph.

The Griffons were unable to pick up a win in the doubles, with two of their losses coming in close 6-4 decisions. Karolina Ström and Joanna Abreu Roman suffered just their second loss as a doubles pair in 13 duals this season.

All four of Missouri Western’s defeats in singles play came in two sets. However, both Ström and Bojana Vuksan scored points for the Griffons as they closed out the match with two victories. After dropping the first set on the number one courts, Ström took control in the following two sets to come away with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 comeback win.

After splitting the first two sets on the number six courts, Vuksan won a back-and-forth third set by a score of 12-10, earning her sixth-straight victory in singles.

Missouri Western will travel to Arkansas Tech (4-3) for its next match on March 16.

MWSU VS. NWMSU
SINGLES
Karolina Ström (MWSU) def. Tania Teruel (NWMSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Irene Recuenco, Irene (NWMSU) def. Mireia Birosta (MWSU) 6-1, 6-0
Marta Ferrando, Marta (NWMSU) def. Joanna Abreu Roman (MWSU) 6-3, 6-1
Julia Aliseda, Julia (NWMSU) def. Ciara Gilmore (MWSU) 6-1, 6-4
Julie Rinderknech, Julie (NWMSU) def. Federica Salmaso (MWSU) 6-3, 6-0
Bojana Vuksan,Bojana (MWSU) def. Sara Grozdanovic (NWMSU) 2-6, 6-1, 12-10

DOUBLES
Ferrando/Teruel (NWMSU) def. Ström/Abreu Roman (MWSU) 6-4
Aliseda/Rinderknech (NWMSU) def. Salmaso/Vuksan (MWSU) 6-4
Grozdanovic/Recuenco (NWMSU) def. Birosta/Dunn (MWSU) 6-0

— MWSU Athletics —

Chiefs sign former Dallas LB Damien Wilson

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Thursday that the club has signed free agent linebacker Damien Wilson.

“We see a lot of potential in Damien,” Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said. “He was a really good player in Dallas, and as we go through this transition with our defense we were in the market for a young, SAM linebacker. We feel really good about Damien and are excited to have him here in Kansas City.”

Wilson (6-0, 245) has played in 64 games (22 starts) in four NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2015-18). His career numbers include 98 tackles (69 solo), 2.5 sacks (-18.0 yards), eight tackles for loss and one forced fumble.

The Gloster, Mississippi, native, originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round selection (127th overall) of the Dallas Cowboys in the 2015 NFL Draft. He played collegiately at the University of Minnesota.

— Chiefs Press Release —

Missouri Western’s baseball series with Washburn moved to St. Joseph

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ST. JOSEPH – The wait for Missouri Western baseball to play in St. Joseph will soon end. Weather in Topeka, Kansas has forced the relocation of a three-game series with Washburn to the MWSU Spring Sports Complex.

Due to field conditions at Missouri Western and the re-schedule, the series has been pushed back one day. Game one will come at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, followed by single games at 1 p.m. on March 17 and March 18. While the games will technically count as home games for Missouri Western, Washburn will play as the home team in all three games.

Missouri Western had five previous attempts at home openers either canceled or postponed to a later date. The Griffons were not scheduled to play at home again until March 29 when Central Oklahoma visited for a three-game series. Cold, snowy and wet conditions in St. Joseph forced the Griffons to twice due what Washburn will do this weekend, play on the road as the home team. The Griffons moved a series with Fort Hays State to Edmond, Oklahoma and a series with Northeastern State to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

The Griffons are 9-7 and tied atop the MIAA standings with a 7-2 conference record. Missouri Western has won three-consecutive series over MIAA opponents. Washburn is 8-10 overall with a 3-6 record in MIAA play. The Ichabods were swept in a three-game series at Missouri Southern their last time out.

— MWSU Athletics —

Benedictine earns a no. 1 seed in NAIA National Tournament

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NAIA made things official on Wednesday night as the Raven Men’s Basketball team officially learned their overall seeding and first-round opponent match up during the official bracket announcement of the 2019 NAIA Div. I Men’s Basketball National Championship.

Benedictine earned the overall No. 3 seed and will serve as the No. 1 seed in the Duer Bracket. They will take on Westmont (Calif.) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 21 at historical Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The Championship tips off on March 20 and concludes with the National Championship Game on Tuesday, March 26 inside historical Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.

The Heart of America Athletic Conference serves as the official host conference for the Championship and the Ravens punched their ticket to the Championship by winning the Heart regular-season championship.

Tickets for the entire tournament can be purchased directly through the NAIA at www.NAIAhoops.com/tickets.

A limited number of tickets are available for purchase directly from the Raven Athletics Office starting on Thursday morning. Those tickets are available for $15 and are aimed at allowing our local supporters an opportunity to purchase tickets ahead of the Ravens first-round game. Contact Kim Fry at 913.360.7564 to make arrangements to order your tickets.

The Ravens are making their 11th overall appearance in the Championship and their fourth under head coach Ryan Moody. They last appeared in 2017 and have an overall tournament record of 13-9. Their 30 wins mark the most by any team in the 32-team Championship field.

Westmont finished with an overall record of 18-10 and earned one of the 19 at-large berths into this year’s Championship Field. They are making their 21st overall appearance in the Championship and their fifth straight appearance. They have an overall Championship record of 21-20.

— BC Athletics —

Western women win first event of the spring; Ong, Bech tie for individual title

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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – With the team sitting in third place entering the second round of the Warrior Invitational on Wednesday, the Missouri Western women’s golf team had the best team score of the second round to jump two spots and win the tournament.

Anna Bech came into the second day of the tournament tied for 15th, but shot a 78 (+6) to vault up to first to tie teammate Shi Qing Ong as co-winner of the tournament. Bech and Ong both finished 159 (+15) to win the event by five strokes.

The Griffons handled the weather conditions better than any other team at the tournament. Wind gusts on the course consistently ranged from 25 to 35 miles per hour, with some gusts as high as 50 miles per hour. Each of the eight teams at the event suffered higher stroke totals on Wednesday, but the Griffons still managed to out-perform the next best round-two score by 20 strokes.

Bech was the main story of the second round. Bech shot an impressive 78 (+6) to climb 14 spots for a share of the individual tournament win. She was one of just four golfers to improve in the field of 47. The win gives Bech her first career victory at Missouri Western.

Ong held on to tie for the win with her 88 (+16) in round two. Her second-round score gave her the fifth-best performance in the field.

Chong Yong tied for fourth place to give the Griffons three of the top five finishers. Yong’s score of 85 (+13) was the second-best score of the round, behind Bech’s 78.

Giving Missouri Western another top-10 finish was Jenna Kosmatka. Kosmatka finished tied for eighth after her 89 (+17) on Wednesday. She entered the round tied for 15th but advanced seven spots on day two.

Rounding out the scores for the Griffons was Sabrina Galfano, whose two day score of 183 landed her in the top-25.

Missouri Western Women’s Golf will return to St. Joseph for its next event, as they compete in the MWSU Holiday Inn Express Invitational at the St. Joseph Country Club on March 18-19.

— MWSU Athletics —

Geist helps Mizzou defeat Georgia 71-61 in SEC Tournament

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Missouri’s Jordan Geist isn’t ready for his college career to end just yet.

Geist scored a career-high 30 points and No. 12 seed Missouri outlasted No. 13 seed Georgia 71-61 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

“I just tried to go out there and play my game,” the senior guard said. “When it all comes down to it, if I give my all, I don’t have anything to regret.”

Missouri (13-14) advanced to a second-round matchup Thursday with No. 22 Auburn (22-9), the fifth seed. Missouri lost 92-58 at Auburn on Jan. 30 in their only regular-season matchup.

After losing four straight games last month, Missouri (15-16) has bounced back to win three of its last four.

“Sometimes in losing, though it’s painful, it forces you to grow,” Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said.

Missouri gained a measure of revenge after losing 62-60 to Georgia in last year’s SEC Tournament.

Georgia (11-21) finished the first season of Tom Crean’s coaching tenure with 12 losses in its last 13 games. The Bulldogs wasted a career-high 26 points from Jordan Harris.

The two teams were meeting exactly one week after Missouri won 64-39 at Georgia, holding the Bulldogs to their lowest point total at home since a 36-30 victory over Georgia Tech during the 1945-46 season.

Georgia nearly matched that output in the first half Wednesday while building a 34-32 lead. The Bulldogs shot just 35.7 percent in the first half but pulled ahead by getting to the bonus early.

“Playing this team a week ago and knowing we did not leave it all out there on the floor against them, I am firmly convinced they did tonight,” Crean said.

Missouri took the lead for good at 45-43 on a Kevin Puryear basket with 12:05 left. Neither team led by more than seven points until the final four minutes of the game.

While Georgia did a great job of drawing fouls, the Bulldogs failed to take full advantage. Georgia shot just 21 of 36 on free-throw attempts, including 9 of 18 in the second half.

“It spreads throughout a team,” Georgia forward Derek Ogbeide said. “Once two or three guys, a couple of guys miss, the next thing you know, it spreads, much like anything. Simply missing a shot from a few people a few times, that becomes contagious.”

Geist shot 9 of 15 overall and 10 of 13 from the foul line to lead Missouri. His previous career high was a 28-point performance against Green Bay on Dec. 9, 2017. Xavier Pinson added 15 points.

Ogbeide had 12 and Nicolas Claxton added 11 for Georgia. Claxton also had six blocks.

BIG PICTURE

Georgia: The Bulldogs have a long way to go as Crean attempts to rebuild the program. Before this year, Georgia hadn’t lost as many as 21 games in a season since a 3-21 finish in 1955-56.

Missouri: The Tigers won without getting much from Jeremiah Tilmon, their top post player. Tilmon scored four points and shot just 1 of 7 while playing 20 minutes and battling foul trouble. Tilmon has picked up at least four fouls in seven of his last eight games and has fouled out of three of them.

PICKETT’S RETURN

Missouri’s Javon Pickett returned to the starting lineup after back spasms caused him to miss a 73-68 loss to Mississippi on Saturday. He went scoreless in 22 minutes.

3-POINT WOES

Something about this matchup causes poor outside shooting.

Georgia was 4 of 19 and Missouri went 3 of 11 from 3-point range Wednesday. When these two teams met last week, the two teams shot a combined 0 for 22 from beyond the arc in the first half before Missouri ended up 6 of 21 and Georgia finished 3 of 20.

UP NEXT

Georgia will replace three departing senior starters in Claxton, Turtle Jackson and Ogbeide next season. The Bulldogs add incoming freshman Anthony Edwards, rated as the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect in his class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports.

Missouri faces Auburn in a second-round game Thursday.

— Associated Press —

K-State’s Wade unlikely to play in Big 12 tourney

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade is expected to miss the entire Big 12 tournament for No. 15 Kansas State because of a foot injury that has lingered for much of the season.

Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said after Wednesday’s practice at Sprint Center that the 6-foot-10 Wade would spend most of his time this week getting treatment. The hope is that Wade will be ready for next week’s NCAA tournament, though Weber said he could not promise anything.

Wade is averaging 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Wildcats, who are the No. 1 seed in Kansas City after tying Texas Tech for the regular-season conference title.

The Wildcats did get some good news in that Cartier Diarra, who has missed several weeks after hand surgery, is expected to be available for their quarterfinal on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

Palmer Jr. scores 34 as Nebraska beats Rutgers in Big Ten Tournament opener

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CHICAGO (AP) — James Palmer Jr. tied a career high with 34 points, and Nebraska beat Rutgers 68-61 in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday.

Palmer matched a personal best set against Ohio State last season and scored 27 in the second half to carry Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers (17-15) went on a 15-0 run to grab a 10-point lead in the closing minutes on the way to their second straight win after dropping 11 of 13. They are banking on a run in the conference tournament to vault them into the NCAA picture and maybe save coach Tim Miles’ job.

Eugene Omoruyi led Rutgers (14-17) with 16 points. Myles Johnson added 11 points and 11 rebounds, but the Scarlet Knights were one and done this time after winning at least one game in the previous two conference tournaments.

Nebraska went on a 15-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a 61-51 lead with 1:30 remaining.

Isaiah Roby started it with a layup with 6:21 remaining and hit two free throws with four minutes left to put Nebraska back on top for the first time since the opening minutes of the half at 52-51.

Palmer then nailed a 3 and Roby drove for a neat scoop layup after a steal by Johnny Trueblood. Palmer then threw down a hard fast-break dunk, getting intentionally fouled from behind by Omoruyi, and Glynn Watson Jr. made two free throws to finish the run.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: Palmer could probably use some help if the Cornhuskers are going to make a run in the conference tournament. No one else scored more than 11 points, and Nebraska shot just 40.4 percent while making 3 of 15 3-pointers.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights came up short down the stretch in this one after showing some promise during the regular season.

UP NEXT

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers were swept by Maryland — 74-72 on the road on Jan. 2 and 60-45 at home on Feb. 6.

Rutgers: Season is likely over.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs release safety Eric Berry

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Wednesday that the club has released safety Eric Berry.

“On behalf of my family and the entire Chiefs organization, I want to thank Eric for his many contributions to the Chiefs over the last nine seasons,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “Eric has been a tremendous leader for our football team and an inspiration to so many fans over the years, and we sincerely appreciate all that he has meant to the Chiefs. He will always be an important part of our Chiefs family, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

“We continually evaluate every aspect of our football team and we came to the decision that it was in our best interest to release Eric,” Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said. “Knowing what Eric has meant to this organization and this city made this an incredibly difficult decision. We wish him nothing but the best.”

“I’d like to thank Eric for his contributions to our team and the Kansas City community over the last nine years,” Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid said. “Seeing his passion and watching his love for the game has been truly remarkable. He’s a special person, and we wish him the best as his career moves forward.”

Berry (6-0, 212) has played in 89 games (87 starts) in nine NFL seasons with the Chiefs (2010-18). His career numbers include 440 tackles (372 solo), 5.5 sacks, 14 interceptions (five return TDs), 51 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

He earned five trips to the Pro Bowl in his time with the Chiefs. Following the 2015 season, Berry was honored with the AP’s Comeback Player of the Year Award as well as being the recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He earned the team’s Derrick Thomas Award in 2015 and 2016, given to the team’s most valuable player, voted on by his teammates.

The Fairburn, Ga., native, originally entered the NFL as the fifth-overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Chiefs. He played collegiately at the University of Tennessee.

— Chiefs Press Release —

MWSU softball postpones this weekends games

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ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western softball’s home schedule has been further delayed as the team re-scheduled two MIAA doubleheaders that were supposed to be played Friday and Saturday.

Due to field conditions, Missouri Western has postponed its home opening doubleheader with Central Missouri until Monday. The games may be moved back to Sunday if field conditions will allow. A decision on the finalized date and time will be made later this week. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Friday.

The doubleheader with Southwest Baptist has been postponed until Tuesday, April 9. Those games were originally scheduled for Saturday.

— MWSU Athletics —

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