ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team opened up MIAA action with a 94-79 victory over the Pittsburg State Gorillas. The Griffons have won the last five match ups with the Gorillas as P’Allen Stinnett and Jonathan Phelps led the charge with 22 points apiece. The Griffons improve to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in MIAA action.
The first six minutes of the first half belonged to the Griffons as they took an 11-6 lead after a Phelps lay-up with just under fourteen minutes to play in the half. The Gorillas went on a 17-6 run opening up its largest lead of the game at 23-17 with 7:32 to play in the frame.
Western caught fire the rest of the half closing on a 24-9 run taking a nine point lead at 41-32 into the half. Western scored 20 points in the paint and had 14 points off the bench in the half. Stinnett and Phelps each scored 12 points for the Griffons as they shot 60.7-percent (17-28) from the field. Western had nine assists and four blocks in the half.
The Gorillas were led by Chris Ware with 11 point as they made 13-of-30 field goals and went 5-of-9 from the line.
Pitt State closed the Griffon lead to one twice in the first seven minutes of the second half but three pointers from Jeffery Western and Phelps extended the Griffon lead to four at 56-52 with 12:42 to play. Phelps scored the next seven Griffon points extending the lead to 11 at 63-52 with 10:58 to play.
The Griffons never let the Gorillas get closer than 11 points the rest of the way cruising to the 15 point victory. The Griffons ended the night scoring 46 points in the paint and getting 41 points off the bench. Western shot 58.7-percent (37-63) from the field and made 10-of-25 long range shots. Western connected on 10-of-12 free throw attempts. The Griffons had 23 assists with TJ Johnson dishing out eight.
Three other Griffons scored in double figures on the night as Johnson, James Harvey and West dumped in 15, 15 and 14 respectively. Johnson led the way on the boards with eight rebounds.
The Gorillas forced 19 Griffon turnovers and dumped in 29 points off those turnovers. Ware led the charge with 13 points while Jordan Embers, Eric Ray and Drake Green scored 13, 12 and 12 respectively. The Gorillas had 16 offensive rebounds scoring 15 second chance points.
PSU shot 44.4-percent (28-63) from the field and made just 4-of-16 long range shots. The Gorillas shot 61.3-percent (19-31) from the charity stripe. Andra Bailey led the charge on the boards with six rebounds while Ray dished out six of the Gorillas 12 assists. PSU falls to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play.
The Griffon will return to action on Saturday, December 4 when they travel to Emporia, Kan. to take on the Emporia State Hornets from White Auditorium in their first MIAA road game of the season. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
Missouri Western State University (located in St. Joseph, Mo.) is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
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