The Missouri Western men’s basketball team continued to play well at home cruising to a 99-71 victory over the Lincoln Blue Tigers. The Griffons shot a season best 66.7-percent (38-57) from the field improving to 9-10 overall and 4-7 in MIAA play.

The Griffons shot a sizzling 64.5-percent (20-31) taking a 51-30 lead into halftime against Lincoln. The 51 points is the most points in the first half this season by the Griffons. Missouri Western had eight players score with Ryan Devers, Adarius Fulton and Dzenan Mrkaljevic each dumping in nine.

The Griffons used a 31-14 run opening up a 20 point lead at 36-16 lead after a Wes Mitter layup with 5:35 to play. The Blue Tigers tried to make a comeback cutting the Griffon lead to 14 with 2:50 to play but the Griffons outscored the Blue Tigers 8-1 down the stretch taking their biggest lead of the game into the locker room.

The Griffons dominated the points in the paint outscoring Lincoln 30-8. The Griffons mad 5-of-9 long range shots and 6-of-7 free throws. Fulton made three of the Griffons five long range shots in the frame.

The Blue Tigers shot just 37.9-percent (11-29) from the field with Joshua Buie leading the way with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

The Griffons continued to play well offensively in the second half leading by as many as 31 points at 92-61 with 5:12 to play. The Griffons outscored the Blue Tigers 28-14 in the paint in the frame. The Blue Tigers drop to 2-17 overall and 0-11 in MIAA play.

The Griffons dominated the points in the paint outscoring Lincoln 58-22. Missouri Western had five players score in double figures with Devers leading the way with 24 on 8-of-9 shooting. Cortrez Colbert, Dareon Jones, Charlie Marquardt and Mrkaljevic all finished with 16, 15, 14 and 13 respectively.

The Griffons had 21 assists on the night with Mrkaljevic leading the way with five. Nine different Griffons had an assist in the game.

The Blue Tigers had two players score in doubles figures with Buie leading the way with 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting. Jeremy Jackson pitched in 12.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, February 1st with an MIAA afternoon game against the Lindenwood Lions. Game time is set for 3:30 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse and will be broadcast on 680 KFEQ AM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western held Lincoln without a field goal for more than 16 minutes throughout the course of the game as the Griffons won 42-28 Wednesday night at MWSU Fieldhouse.

The 28 points given up by the Griffons were the third fewest in their history, and the fewest points given up in a conference game.

For most of the second half, the suspense of Missouri Western’s outcome was over with. The Blue Tigers didn’t score a basket from the 9:27 mark of the first half until the 13:23 mark of the final frame. As Lincoln guard Jennifer Rosado knocked down a jumper. The span helped the Griffons dominate throughout in their conference matchup.

Neither team could establish much offensively in the first few minutes as each team swapped three turnovers before Lincoln took a 2-0 lead. Quenisha Lockett added a layup for the 2-2 tie with 16:57 left in the opening half, and the tie was soon broken up by Tiara Hall’s layup. The Griffons continued on an 11-0 run with Sharniece Lewis’ back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 11-2.

The Griffons continued to take control in the half, grabbing a 22-9 lead with a Lewis jumper late in the half. Missouri Western led 22-12 at the half. The Blue Tigers didn’t help themselves, having as many turnovers, 12, as they did points in the first half.

Missouri Western didn’t let the game get any closer, jumping out to a 17-point lead after a layup by Lockett early in the second half. Lincoln pulled within 12 as it was 29-17, but that score was followed by four more Griffon points to establish another large lead. Lincoln finished with 24 turnovers, which was more than the Blue Tigers could score until Rosado knocked down a triple with less than a minute to play. Rosado added two more free throws to close the game 42-28 which kept them winless in the conference. The Blue Tigers are 3-15 overall. Missouri Western is now 8-10 overall and 3-8 in the MIAA.

The Griffons were led by JaQuitta Dever and Lewis, who each had 10 points. Dever also collected five steals. Jallisa Lewis added a game-high 11 rebounds. Rosado paced Lincoln with 13 points.

Missouri Western’s 42 points were the least amount of points scored in a victory in its history. Before that, the Griffons defeated Peru State 48-47 on December 3, 1991.

Next up for the Griffons is a Saturday matchup against Lindenwood at 1:30 p.m. and it’ll air on 680 KFEQ AM.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri Western tight end Reggie Jordan has been named an honorable mention All-America by D2Football.com, which was released Wednesday.

Reggie Jordan (TE, 6-3, 240, Sr., Hazelwood, Mo.) was named second team All-MIAA for the first time in his career. This marks his second season in a row that he was named honorable mention All-American by D2Football.com. This past season he had 23 catches for 366 yards and four touchdowns which included a two touchdown performance against Pittsburg State. He had two catches for 81 yards in that game. He also had three rushes for 22 yards on the season. Last sason he was an honorable mention All-MIAA selection as well as an honorable mention D2Football.com All-American.

Reggie Jordan has also been invited to the 2014 NFL Combine to be held February 19-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The Griffons finished the season with an 8-3 overall record and 7-3 MIAA record. It was the eighth time in the past nine seasons and 11th time in Head Coach Jerry Partridge’s tenure that the Griffons have won eight or more games.

— MWSU Sports Information —