Sports – Page 662 – St. Joseph Post Archive

No. 16 Ravens to open NAIA Championships with Montana Western

Posted on March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hours after learning they finished the season at No. 16 in the NAIA, the Benedictine men’s basketball team learned their first-round opponent for the 2015 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Div. I Men’s Basketball Championship on Wednesday night.

Benedictine, who enters the tournament with an overall record of 24-8 will take on Montana Western in the first round of the Naismith Bracket of the NAIA Tournament.

Montana Western enters the tournament at 22-9 and was ranked No. 19 in the final NAIA Div. I Men’s Basketball Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Wednesday afternoon.

They play in the Frontier Conference, and like Benedictine finished in second place in their conference. They finished their conference schedule with a 9-5 record. They lost out in their conference tournament as they fell to Lewis & Clark State College in the Frontier Conference Tournament Championship game.

Benedictine, after going 12-6 in the Heart, earned the conference’s host berth to the NAIA Tournament after Missouri Valley College took the Heart Tournament Championship berth.

The Ravens are one of three teams from the Heart to qualify for the tournament as Evangel University joins Benedictine and Missouri Valley in the 32-team field.

Benedictine is one of 18 repeat qualifiers from the 2014 tournament.

Montana Western plays in the same conference as Benedictine’s 2014 first-round opponent, Westminister (Utah) College.

Tickets for the tournament are available at www.NAIAhoops.com. Reserved seating is $15, general admission is $12, student tickets (ages 6 through 21) are $5 and children five and under are free.

— BC Sports Information —

K-State’s season ends with loss to TCU in Big 12 Tournament 1st Round

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — TCU rolled into the Big 12 tournament full of confidence, three straight losses to end the regular season doing nothing to hurt their frame of mind.

That confidence came in handy down the stretch Wednesday night.

Chris Washburn and Kyan Anderson scored 16 points apiece, and No. 9 seed TCU made enough stops on defense to beat Kansas State 67-65 for its first Big 12 tournament victory.

“We ended the season on a high note. We felt like overall we played well, even though we didn’t finish our games,” said Trey Zeigler, who added 15 points for the Horned Frogs. “We came in here and we knew Kansas State was a good team, and me and Kyan just tried to make sure we did everything we could do as senior captains.”

TCU had built a 58-46 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left, but the Wildcats managed to trim it to 64-62 when Nino Williams converted a three-point play with about a minute to go.

Zeigler slashed to the rim at the other end and took a no-look pass from Anderson, getting fouled in the process. He calmly made both foul shots to give the Horned Frogs a four-point cushion, and Williams missed a long 3-pointer at the other end that put the game away.

The Horned Frogs, who improved to 4-0 against the Wildcats in postseason play, now get a date with top-seeded Kansas in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.

“Premiere team in this league, one of the premiere teams in the country,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “No basketball program has a more storied tradition than they do and we’ve got to find a way to compete at a high level in a short period of time.”

Thomas Gipson had 16 points and Williams finished with 13 for the No. 8 seed Wildcats (15-17), who finished the season with a losing record for the first time since 2003.

It was a disappointing end to a frustrating season, one marked by a series of injuries to key players and off-the-court discord involving several others.

“It was a tough way to learn. We were close but we just didn’t have it,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “It’s just a shame. We had enough tools to be better than we were.”

The Horned Frogs went on a 16-2 run in the first half while Williams and Gipson were on the bench in foul trouble to build a 35-27 lead by the break. Washburn added a jumper right out of the locker room, keeping a heavily pro-Kansas State crowd silent.

That’s when Kansas State made its first run of the game. Williams and Gipson did most of the work, but diminutive guard Jevon Thomas — briefly kicked off the team last week — also contributed a basket. Eventually, the Wildcats had crept within 41-39 with 16 minutes to go.

TCU regained control after Anderson knocked down a deep 3, taking advantage of a stretch in which the Wildcats went 2 for 16 from the field to push its lead back to 12.

That’s when Kansas State made its second run of the game. Just about everyone got into the act, and the Wildcats cut the lead to 64-62 when Williams converted the three-point play.

The Horned Frogs simply made too many plays down the stretch.

“It’s just disappointing it had to end like this,” Gipson said. “It just seems like we always dig ourselves a hole.”

SEEDS MATTER

The Wildcats finished in a three-way tie for sixth in the league, but got the No. 8 seed because of tiebreakers. The loss dropped them to 1-5 with that seed in the tournament.

DEEP THREAT

Anderson matched a season high with four 3-pointers, two of them from well beyond the NBA arc. It was the most by a TCU player in three Big 12 tournament games. “We thought it was going to be our game,” he said. “It’s just the mentality we have.”

TIP-INS

TCU: Washburn finished 8 of 11 from the field. He also had eight rebounds. … Karviar Shepherd had nine points and nine boards. … TCU improved to 17-3 when leading at the half.

Kansas State finished in a three-way tie for sixth in the league, but was given the No. 8 seed due to tiebreakers. … Marcus Foster was held scoreless, going 0 for 5 from the field.

UP NEXT

TCU lost both of its games to the Jayhawks this season.

Kansas State heads into the offseason.

— Associated Press —

Bearcat softball earns two 2-1 victories over Upper Iowa

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

In its home opener, the Northwest Missouri State softball team picked up a pair of 2-1 victories over Upper Iowa Wednesday afternoon in Maryville, Mo.

The Bearcats improved to 6-6 overall this season, while the Peacocks fell to 3-12 on the year.

Sarah Baldwin threw her third complete game of the year, giving up one run on just four hits. The junior struck out seven batters while walking only two. With the win, Baldwin improved her record to 4-2.

Rebecca Maher collected a pair of singles, scoring one run and driving in another, while Chantel Adams added one RBI on a single in the first.

In game two, Kendle Schieber earned her second victory this season, throwing eight solid innings. The junior gave up five hits while striking out seven and walking only one. This was Schieber’s second complete game of the year.

Sophomore third baseman Chantel Adams finished 2-for-3 with one double, one triple and one RBI, and Stephanie Mark crushed a double over the centerfielder’s head and came around to score one run.

Northwest returns to MIAA play when the play Southwest Baptist on Friday, March 13 in Maryville Mo. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Benedictine women will open with Wiley (TX) in NAIA Tournament

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Benedictine women’s basketball team moved up to No. 19 earlier in the day on Wednesday and then learned of their opening-round opponent Wednesday night.

The Ravens will take on No. 14 Wiley (Texas) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Independence Event Center in the first round of the 2015 NAIA Div. I Women’s Basketball Championship.

Benedictine, who enters tournament play with an overall record of 25-8, qualified for their second trip to the NAIA Tournament by way of earning the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament championship bid on Monday night.

Wiley is making their fourth appearance in the NAIA Tournament and enters the tournament with an overall record of 22-4. They qualified for this year’s tournament as the No. 5 at-large selection. The are from the Red River Athletic Conference where they 15-5 this season.

Benedictine is one of three teams from the Heart to earn a berth into the 32-team field. MNU earned the conference’s other automatic berth while Baker University recieved an at-large berth as well.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for students, children 5-11 are $5 and five and under are free. Tickets are available through TicketMaster but will cost more than purchasing at the Independence Event Center on the day of the game.

— BC Sports Information —

Northwest Missouri State tennis rolls past William Jewell 9-0

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis team defeated William Jewell at home on Wednesday afternoon, 9-0.

Northwest is now 4-2 on the year while the Cardinals fall to 2-5

The win was head coach Mark Rosewell’s 982nd career victory.

Match Scores
Singles competition
1. Boissinot,Romain (NW) def. Marc Gartner (WJ) 6-0, 6-1
2. Tete,Maruo (NW) def. Amery Clews (WJ) 6-2, 6-0
3. Riveros,Alvaro (NW) def. Jimmy Hunter (WJ) 6-0, 6-0
4. Altmann,Josef (NW) def. Dean Pinhas (WJ) 6-0, 6-3
5. Glowick,Fin (NW) def. Isaac Hamilton (WJ) 6-1, 6-1
6. Azzaoui,Hicham (NW) def. AJ Naanep (WJ) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Riveros,Alvaro/Autones,Aymeric (NW) def. Jimmy Hunter/Amery Clews (WJ) 8-2
2. Tete,Maruo/Boissinot,Romain (NW) def. Isaac Hamilton/Marc Gartner (WJ) 8-1
3. Altmann,Josef/Glowick,Fin (NW) def. Dean Pinhas/Marco Martinez Lopez (WJ) 8-0

The Bearcats will play three matches this weekend on both the men’s and women’s side. Both programs play Lewis University on Friday in Bolivar, Mo. The match was originally scheduled to be played in Springfield, Mo.

— Northwest Sports Information —

Nebraska loses Big Ten Tournament opener to Penn State

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

CHICAGO (AP) — D.J. Newbill sees the Big Ten tournament as a shot at redemption for Penn State. It was nearly the stage for a big collapse, too.

Newbill scored 26 points, Shep Garner added 19 and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 68-65 Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament opener.

The 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (17-15) advanced in the tournament for the first time since a run to the final in 2011, despite letting a 16-point lead in the second half dwindle to one.

They came away with their second-straight win after dropping six in a row when Shavon Shields missed a 3 for 12th-seeded Nebraska (13-18) at the buzzer.

Penn State will play No. 5 seed Iowa on Thursday.

“We’re disappointed in how we finished in Big Ten play,” Newbill said. “We’ve got another opportunity to come out here and prove to ourselves and prove to everybody we’re better than what we showed.”

Garner hit five 3-pointers. Newbill nailed four from long range and keyed a 14-1 run early in the second half that stretched the lead from three to 16. Penn State also blocked a tournament-record 16 shots.

The loss was the ninth straight for Nebraska, which got 29 points from Terran Petteway. Shields scored 20 and grabbed 10 rebounds. But after making the NCAA tournament last season, the Cornhuskers are on the outside looking in.

“As excited as I was last year is as disappointed as I am this year,” coach Tim Miles said. “And I talked a lot of trash on the golf course last year so I was pretty pumped up.”

He believes that the program is headed in the right direction, that the incoming recruits will provide a big lift. But enduring a run like this has not been easy.

Things got so bad that Miles actually banned his players from their plush locker room and forbade them from speaking to reporters following a 28-point blowout by Iowa last month.

“It wears on you,” Miles said. “You go to the shopping center with your head down, the grocery store with your head down, and hope you don’t run into everybody and have to regurgitate what you’re going through.”

Nebraska was within 63-62 after Shields hit two free throws with 3:03 left. Newbill then scored on a layup for Penn State and Ross Travis hit a free throw to make it a four-point game with 2:18 remaining.

Petteway hit a free throw and added two more with 42.7 seconds left after being fouled on a drive, making it 66-65.

Newbill missed a floater with about eight seconds left, setting off a scramble and a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing to Penn State.

Geno Thorpe caught the inbounds and hit two free throws to make it a three-point game with 4.2 seconds. The Nittany Lions hung on when Shields’ pull-up 3 from the right wing hit the front of the rim.

Penn State looked like it was ready to run away with this one after mounting a 14-1 run early in the second and breaking open a 37-34 game.

Newbill scored eight during that stretch and wrapped two 3-pointers around a free throw by Nebraska’s Moses Abraham.

Garner then nailed another 3 for Penn State, making it 51-35 with just fewer than 16 minutes left. But instead of bowing quietly, Nebraska responded by scoring 14 in a row.

Tai Webster buried a 3 after Abraham missed a free throw, cutting it to 51-49 with 9:47 left. Garner pulled up for one of his own, triggering an 8-2 spurt, but the Cornhuskers stayed in it, a putback by Abraham making it 62-60 with about four minutes left.

“When things got tight there, we responded,” Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. “We attacked the situation. We made some big plays and finally got some timely rebounds and Geno hit some really big-time free-throws for us.”

—

HE SAID IT

Chambers on playing on consecutive days: “If you’re an 18-to-23 year old kid, come on. Practice? They want to play games. I feel confident they’ll be ready to play and play with great energy tomorrow.”

TIP-INS

Penn State: Penn State is 10-17 in the Big Ten tournament. … The Nittany Lions eclipsed the previous tournament blocks record of 12 by Wisconsin against Nebraska in 2000.

Nebraska: Nebraska is 17-38 all-time in conference tournaments, dating to the Big Eight in 1977.

UP NEXT

Penn State: Plays Iowa on Thursday.

Nebraska: Season complete.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs announce signing of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin

Posted on March 11, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have signed Jeremy Maclin to a five-year deal, adding the down-the-field threat that their wide receiver group was sorely lacking last season.

The contract is worth up to $55 million, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because those details were not announced.

The Chiefs planned an afternoon news conference to introduce their newest addition.

Maclin started all 16 games for the Eagles last season. He set career highs with 85 catches for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns, and showed no lingering effects from the torn ACL that caused him to miss the entire 2013 season.

His addition could mean the end of Dwayne Bowe’s tenure in Kansas City. The veteran wide receiver is due to count $14 million against the salary cap.

Benton defeats Notre Dame de Sion to advance to Class 4 Quarterfinals

Posted on March 11, 2015

The Benton girls’ basketball team has advanced to its second consecutive Class 4 quarterfinal as they defeated Notre Dame de Sion, 41-31, Tuesday night in their sectional game at Staley High School.

The Cardinals have now won 18 straight game as they improve to 26-2 this season. They’ll play Bolivar at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Liberty North High School for a trip to the Final Four in Columbia on the line.

Tuesday night, Benton nearly led wire-to-wire as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led 13-11 after the first quarter. Sion took a quick 14-13 lead early in the second quarter before the Cardinals ended the half on a 7-2 run and began the second half on a 13-2 run.

Benton led by as many as 15 points, 33-18, in the third quarter and the Storm never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Mallory McAndrews made five three-pointers and led the Cards with 19 points, while Daejah Bernard added 11 and Kylee Williams scored eight.

Benton’s game with Bolivar on Saturday with be broadcast on 680 KFEQ or you can listen live right here on StJosephPost.com.

Western men’s golf finishes 7th at Arkansas Tech

Posted on March 10, 2015March 11, 2015

DANVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western men’s golf team managed to finish in seventh place in the Dave Falconer Classic hosted by Arkansas Tech. The field included 19 teams and took place at the Chamberlyne Country Club.

Missouri Western managed to maintain their position after day one and finished the final round for an outright seventh place finish. The Griffons shot a total team score of 596 through the two rounds. MWSU scored a 309 on day one and a 287 on day two.

Western’s Corey Knight scored a 145 over the two day tournament recording a 75 and 70 in his two rounds. He finished tied for seventh place while Jakob Rudosky finished with a 150 and tied for 34th in the tournament.

Washburn finished the tournament as the team winner shooting a 584 through the tournament. Mauricio Lira of Henderson State earned the individual title with a score of 141.

Missouri Western will be back in action Monday, March 23in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the Broncho Invitational.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcat men’s tennis loses to Division I Abilene Christian 4-3

Posted on March 10, 2015

The No. 17 ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s tennis team fell to Division I member Abilene Christian, 4-3, on Tuesday morning in Kansas City.

The Bearcats won three singles matches but dropped the doubles point. The match was scored as a Division I match with doubles counting as just one point.

Josef Altmann and Fin Glowick won doubles at No. 3, and each captures singles wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Abilene Christian is now 5-11 overall while Northwest falls to 3-2 on the year.

Scores
Singles competition
1. Nico Agritelley (ACU) def. Boissinot,Romain (NW) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
2. Guilherme Gesser (ACU) def. Tete,Maruo (NW) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
3. Riveros,Alvaro (NW) def. Jason Proctor (ACU) 7-5, 6-3
4. Altmann,Josef (NW) def. Henry Adams (ACU) 7-6, 6-3
5. Glowick,Fin (NW) def. Paul Domanski (ACU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Marco Bensley (ACU) def. Azzaoui,Hicham (NW) 7-5, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Nico Agritelley/Guilherme Gesser (ACU) def. Tete,Maruo/Riveros,Alvaro (NW) 6-1
2. Jason Proctor/Henry Adams (ACU) def. Autones,Aymeric/Boissinot,Romain (NW) 7-6
3. Glowick,Fin/Altmann,Josef (NW) def. Paul Domanski/Marco Bensley (ACU) 6-0

The Bearcats host William Jewell at Frank Grube Courts on Wednesday, March 11, at 3 p.m.

— Northwest Sports Information —