Brett Weiberg gets his first head coaching opportunity  at a four-year university with Western.

Brett Weiberg plans to bring back the winning tradition that once saw the Western men’s basketball program as a perennial contender under Tom Smith, but there are things that he won’t sacrifice to get there.

“It will be a little bit of a process, but I’m willing to be patient,” Weiberg said of a turnaround after three straight losing seasons. “What we wont be patient with is effort and character and trying to do the best we can do.  Above everything else, we want to do it with good people and develop a culture of just competing.”

The 38-year-old Weiberg’s only head coaching experience is the last seven years at Northern Oklahoma, where he racked up 125 wins including a 27-4 record and a conference championship this past season. However, his experience in basketball goes far beyond what his resume shows.

Weiberg spent his entire life around basketball and took over the Northern Oklahoma program from his legendary father after serving five years under him as an assistant. He’s taking over for a legend once again at Western as Tom Smith held the head coaching position for the past 25 years.

“I’m just looking forward to continuing the winning tradition that he’s established,” Weiberg said. “It’s been done here and been done here for a long time. He will be someone that I will lean on greatly and I’m hoping that will be just fine with him.”

Although Smith built the program into a perennial winner in the past, the team has suffered through three consecutive losing seasons including a 10-17 mark this past season. Weiberg believes he can get the program back to its winning ways by finding the right mix of talent and character.

“We are going to play hard, we will play with passion, we will play together and we are going to have fun doing it,” Weiberg said. “I am a competitor, It’s part of who I am and how I was raised and we are going to have young men in here that will compete every single night.”

Weiberg stated that he will not sacrifice character and integrity when recruiting players. While Smith chose to only get his players from the junior college ranks, Weiberg plans to build a base of players straight out of high school and add transfers to push them over the top.

At Northern Oklahoma, he graduated 80 percent of players with an associates degree and will place heavy importance on making sure his teams graduate at Western.

“It’s the promise that I make every single mom and dad when I recruit them,” Weiberg said. “If they are willing to put the effort in then we are going to get them out of here with a degree. That’s going to be a challenge and something that we are going to do and really push these young men.”

The hire is Athletic Director Kurt McGuffin’s second during his time at Western. The first was women’s coach Rob Edmisson, who took the program from nine to 16 wins in his first season. McGuffin has known Weiberg and his family for eight years.

“They stand for everything I think all of us should stand for in athletics and that’s character, integrity and work ethic,” McGuffin said. “We’re going to get a guy who has been in it, grew up with it. He was born to coach in my opinion, he followed his dad around to many different spots and lived the game.”

Weiberg says his team will play mostly man-to-man defense and will play it tough. His team at Northern Oklahoma led the country in opponent field goal percentage and 3-point percentage last season.   Offensively, the Griffons will run a motion offense tweaked to fit the individual talent on the team.

“The way we play gives you a chance to win on the road too,” Weiberg said. “It gives you an opportunity to get physical, be solid and take great shots and really make it difficult for the other team to score. Those are recipes to win anywhere but especially on the road.”

Missouri Western Men’s basketball facing the 20 points lost against Northwest. Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor

The Bearcats came out hot right from the opening tip, getting out to a 8-0 lead. The Griffons tried to fight back, but everything was falling for Northwest as it extended the lead out to 25-6.

“It’s incredibly hard to come back,” Jordan Yurth said. “You really have to come together as a team — even when you do that — it’s still hard to come back. We really weren’t hitting shots like we were supposed.”

The Griffons went into the halftime break down 35-14. Northwest guard Alex Sullivan outscored the Griffons by himself in the first half 18-14.

Western was forced to abandoned their zone defense in the second half, but it was Northwest who came out hot once again to start the second half. The Bearcats pushed the lead out to an insurmountable 41-14.

Western never gave up and continued to battle, going on a 9-0 run to make the score 40-23. However, that was the closest the Griffons got to the Bearcats in this one-sided affair.

“It was tough to come back from how they were shooting in the first half,” Dylan Frantz said. “It felt like they had all the confidence and momentum in the world every time they shot it. They were on our throats from the beginning and it was tough.”

The Griffons shot just 4-for-20 from 3-point distance while the Bearcats hit a scorching 15-for-29.  Western turned the ball over 13 times to Northwest’s six.

Cedric Clinkscales and Reed Mells were the only players to score in double-figures for the Griffons with 10 points each.  Dzenan Mrkaljevic added six points and four rebounds, but couldn’t connect on either of his attempts from distance.

The Bearcats were led by Sullivan who scored 27 points on 8-for-16 from 3-point distance and DeAngelo Hailey who went for 21 points and six rebounds including 5-for-7 from distance.  Northwest shot 44 percent for the game and 51.7 percent from 3-point range.

An obnoxious Northwest crowd of over two thousand people played a factor in helping the Bearcats sustain momentum and worked to disrupt the Griffons.

“Just when they are making shots, they feel the momentum,” Frantz said. “If we would have made some shots, it would have quieted them down, but it didn’t happen tonight.”

Junior Cedric Clinkscales goes up for a layup aginst the defenders from Nebraska-Kearney. JQ Dever | Staff Writer

The 6-7 230-pound big-man leads the Griffons in points and rebounds while being the only member of the team to make the Dean’s Honor Roll, which requires a 3.5 grade point average or better.

“It’s big for me,” Clinkscales said. “That’s the first time it’s ever happened. It’s just showing that I’m trying to be committed to school for real this time. I’m serious about it.”

In the past, basketball was his main focus and he didn’t put as much emphasis on academics. It was fatherhood and time away from the game that transformed his outlook to classroom first.

Clinkscales, father of two, put his basketball career on hold when his first son was born. He knew he needed to work and be there for support. Once he was able to save up some money, he gave school and basketball another try. He came back a much more mature person than before.

“I have kids that are going to look up to me now so I have to set a good example,” Clinkscales said. “When I had my son, I noticed how much he looked up to me so I didn’t want him to see me doing anything bad.”

Clinkscales hails from Anderson, South Carolina, which is a very small town. He attended T.L. Hanna High School, which is famous for being the setting for the movie Radio. He played at Roane State Community College last season in Tennessee and averaged 13.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while being an all-conference selection. He was recruited by Western assistant coach Mike Nicholson and committed after taking a visit because he liked the people and the campus.

“We thought we had a pretty good player and several other coaches in the league felt like we got a pretty good player,” coach Tom Smith said.

According to Smith, some coaches won’t recruit players with children of their own, but that issue isn’t of any importance to him when looking for prospective athletes. That policy is paying off for Smith with Clinkscales as he’s shown to be very reliable in doing the things he’s supposed to do.

“I think having kids changes the outlook on things and puts things in perspective for what you focus on,” Smith said. “Some guys in college fool around and have a good time. I don’t think that’s Cedric.”

Clinkscales has been the big man in the paint for the Griffons this season, averaging 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and impacts the game defensively with steals and blocks. His great spin move and soft touch around the basket often result in him getting double-teamed by the opposition.

“It’s all about trust, my teammates trusting me and getting me the ball in a position to where I can make some plays,” Clinkscales said.

Smith knows that Clinkscales is going to have to come up big if the Griffons are going to get hot at the end of a losing season.

“He’s shown that he’s as good as big man as there is in the league,” Smith said. “The only thing that has affected his overall performance a little has been some injuries.”

Clinkscales is the only Griffon to start all 25 games so far, but he’s played through several injuries including a hurt hand, shoulder and a sprained ankle that kept him out of action during part of the first half of Saturday’s game. He came back and fought through the injury to finish out the game and relies on trainer Myron Unzicker to help him be at his best physically.

“Myron is my lifeline,” Clinkscales said. “I go to him for everything and he helps me stay on the court. Myron is my best friend right now.”

Clinkscales has learned that MIAA competition is tough and any team in the league is capable of fighting for a win on any given night. He’s seen some pretty good big men this season, but none that he’s scared of.

He plans to earn his degree in Sports Management with hopes that it opens up the door for him to pursue a coaching career in basketball. Until then, he plans to finish out this season strong with a tournament appearance.

“I was really relieved and it felt petty good,” Smith said. “I just felt like I was in the dentist chair all game. I thought we had some pretty good possessions at the end and it was good to win this last game. I tried to tell myself it didn’t mean anything, but it does.”

The win also guaranteed Smith would get to coach at least one more game as it clinched the final seed  in the 12-team MIAA postseason tournament. Western improved to 10-16 overall and 6-12 in conference play.

Fans stayed in their seats after the game to pay tribute to Smith as he took the mic and thanked everybody in an emotional moment. A large group of ex-players made the trip to Saint Joseph to celebrate with their coach.

“The teary eyed stuff isnt because I’m leaving necessarily, but from seeing all of the players here,” Smith said. “It means a lot because we are talking about kids who don’t have a lot of money and everything else.”

The Griffons have played at a higher level on the road than at home this season, with a 1-6 record coming into the game.  Smith stressed to his team before the game to ignore all the hoopla and celebration of his career and focus on the outcome of the game.

“He wanted us to come out here and just play,” guard Kalvin Balque said. “Amongst all the stuff that was going on today, he just wanted us to come out and get the win.  If we would have lost, it would have hurt him.”

The Griffons wasted no time taking control of the game as they were up 22-11 after a Balque dunk, one of three on the afternoon.  Western went into halftime with a 33-19 lead.

Southwest Baptist was able to close the gap after some cold shooting from the Griffons, and cut it to 47-42 with five minutes to play. The Griffons got their focus back and made some big plays down the stretch to pull away for the win including two highlight-reel worthy alley-oops flushed home by Balque.

“I get real amped after catching the oop and it gets the crowd and my teammates into it,” Balque said. “I know I can go get it and dunk it, so that’s what I do. Coaches want me to show off my athleticism.”

Cedric Clinkscales posted a double-double for the Griffons with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Clinkscales was named an honorable mention on the MIAA all-conference team.

“Again, it’s my teammates,” Clinkscales said. “Once they seen that I was scoring then they kept getting it to me.  Baptist wasn’t playing me as aggersiive as some of the other teams in the conference has. They were on their heels.”

Balque added 17 points off the bench on 7-for-9 shooting and stole the ball two times.

The game was also the last home game for seniors Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe, Dylan Frantz.  Both seniors made some strong hustle plays on the offensive glass and impacted the game on their final night at the Fieldhouse after spending two years in a Griffon uniform.

“We always felt like we were the team that could beat other teams in this league,” Clinkscales said.  “It just wasn’t happeneing for us, but now we need to seize this momentum going into the tournament.”

Junior Cedric Clinkscales goes up for a layup aginst the defenders from Nebraska-Kearney. Photo by JaQuitta Dever

Western men’s basketball fell victim to hot three-point shooting by Nebraska-Kearney in the second half as they were defeated 75-70 at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Military Appreciation Day.

The Griffons fell to 9-15 on the season and 5-11 in MIAA conference play.

“Kearney played well and im not taking anything away from them, but in 25 years here this ranks as one of my toughest losses,” coach Tom Smith said. “I’m really taken back by this. We just gave a team life that didn’t think they had any life.”

Nebraska-Kearney hit 15 shots from 3-point distance including 9-for-16 in the second half.  The Griffons went into the halftime break with a 32-27 lead, but two consecutive 3′s by guard Thomas Cooper near the beginning of the second half gave the Lopers a 44-41 lead and never gave the lead back to Western.

The Griffons have not had good results playing at home as their record at the MWSU Fieldhouse is just 1-6 in conference play.  According the Smith, this is the first team in 25 years that doesn’t play well at home.  In the past, even in bad years, the fieldhouse has provided a home-court advantage for the Griffons.

“This team cannot play at home,” Smith said. “They can’t take all the people and they cant take the hoopla. They couldn’t take it. This is pathetic when we come out and give this kind of effort in front of this kind of crowd. We are actually intimidated by our own fans.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting and added 10 rebounds.  Clinkscales twisted his knee in the first half and was forced to sit out the last seven minutes before coming back to start the second half.

“We got players who can step up and do their job, but it may have hurt us,” Clinkscales said. “We have to defend their shooters. They got a lot of open 3′s in the second half and then we gave up a lot of rebounds too.  We have to execute,make shots and get defensive stops.”

Dylan Frantz scored 13 points on 5-for-9 from the field and added three assists while Reed Mells scored 10 points and dished out six assists.  Kalvin Balque scored seven points while providing the highlight of the night when he dunked home a lob pass from Mells. Alfreeman Flowers scored eight points and added five rebounds.

Western shot 51 percent from the field and 9-for-22 from 3-point distance.  They struggled at the free-throw line, connecting on just three out of eight attempts.

There are only two games left in the regular season for the Griffons and Smith in his final season as head coach.  The final is a home game next Saturday against Southwest Baptist University at 3:30 p.m.

The Griffons are currently in No. 11 out of the 12-team field for the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, but could need a win in one of these last two games to guarantee their invite.

It was a road game at Central Oklahoma where the Griffons found themselves down by double digits at halftime. Yurth did his best to motivate the team and contribute with the minutes he got and the team came back and won. He’s been part of the rotation ever since.

“One of the things I talk about is toughness and I feel like Jordan helps us there,” Smith said. “He’s a tough kid that’s willing to take charges and stick his nose in there. His playing time has gone up as he’s gone along.”

Yurth, a 6’4 swingman, was an all-city player in high school out of Lincoln, Neb. If it was playing time that he valued the most, he would have went to one of the NAIA schools that recruited him.

Instead, he was more excited about playing for a hall of fame coach, even if he had to earn every minute he gets.

“I feel like at the NAIA’s, I could have gotten more playing time, but I like Saint Joe and the people here. I like the coaching staff,” Yurth said. “This is a higher level and I knew that coming in. I knew that my opportunities would be harder to get but I looked at it like a challenge.”

According to Smith, it is increasingly rare in this day and age to find a player willing to work hard in practice every day without any guarantee of playing time.

In his experience, most of the time, a player will leave or decide that it’s not worth the daily grind of being a college basketball player with no reward. Yurth has been the exception to that.

“I’ve just always tried to be there for the team off or on the court,” Yurth said. “I practice hard, try to get the guys motivated by me playing hard. This year, it’s nice to get some minutes because I know I can contribute.”

When Smith took over making the substitutions from his assistant coach this year, he remembered Gary Hooper. Hooper’s dad was a star player while his son was less talented.

The father told Smith that he could do what he wanted with his son, but that any kid that can practice with you day in and day out against your team, and you think your team is decent, can certainly play for a few minutes. That’s something that Smith always had in the back of his mind when figuring out his substitution patterns.

Aside from a good-looking jump shot, Smith commends Yurth for always keeping his morale high. He’s had kids who sulk when they don’t see the type of playing time they want, whereas Yurth does the opposite.

“When he doesn’t get minutes, he’s supportive of the people playing,” Smith said. “He’s helping and he’s talking to them and that’s another reason why he needs to be rewarded. Guys sitting there and just caring about themselves don’t need to be rewarded. Jordan needs to be rewarded.”

When Yurth’s opportunities come, he does his best to seize them and is willing to help the Griffons win in any capacity.

“I always feel confident when I go in, whether that’s playing defense or shooting the ball,” Yurth said. “I’m out there to make sure we do the best job possible on the court, to help out rebounding or whatever we need.”

Smith first saw Yurth at a camp where he felt that he had the most potential of any player who wanted to try out. Yurth has shown steady improvement over his years at Western, practicing against some very talented players everyday.

“I feel like what he has done over the last couple of years is he has practiced against enough good players that he’s become a better player,” Smith said.

He might never play 25 minutes per night, but he continues to have a positive impact on the program in many ways.

“I do it just for the love of the game,” Yurth said. “You don’t have to be the best player, but I like being around players and playing the game a lot.”

Yurth is working on a double major at Western in management and marketing. Afterwards, he plans to pursue a master’s degree. He isn’t sure what he will do after that, but his plans displays the same work ethic and selflessness that he’s become known for at Western.

Cedric Clinkscales goes up strong for two of his nine points in the paint. *Photo by Evan Roberts

Western men’s basketball lost an overtime thriller 56-52 to Washburn University at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Washburn had revenge on its mind after being upset by the Griffons in Topeka last Wednesday, but it was Western dominating the early part of the game.

Guard Reed Mells came out hot and was responsible for scoring the first five points of the game and seven of the first nine points for the Griffons, who were up 9-4.  Western had a 13-point lead off an Alfreeman Flowers layup, but was unable extend the lead further despite an extremely cold shooting display by Washburn.

The Ichabods shot just 26 percent in the first half and managed to score only 16 points. The Griffons struggled to create offense, but their defense allowed them to go into halftime with a 27-16 lead.

“I think the game was decided by us not making anything while the sun shined in the first half,” coach Tom Smith said. “We had every opportunity to be up by 15 or 20 in the first half and we couldn’t take advantage of it. Poor shot selection and turnovers hurt us.”

While the Griffons had problems turning the ball over to start the second half, Washburn was finding its shooting stroke. The Ichabods went on a 11-0 run early in the half to take a 31-29 lead.

The teams traded buckets right down to the end of the fourth quarter. With one minute to play, the Griffon defense forced a travel. On the offensive end, Kalvin Balque grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 2.3 seconds left to play. He missed the first free throw, but made the second to force overtime.

Washburn big man Bobby Chipman hit a basket inside and then hit two free throws give the Ichabods a four point lead to start the overtime period and the Griffons couldn’t respond on the offensive end.

“I think we are getting better, just not closing out games,” Mells said. “We have a lot of talent and guys who want to play hard, but we are just inconsistent. It happens, but we can’t afford it.”

Western couldn’t find its shot and hit at just 35 percent from the field for the game, a mark that Smith says will not win him very many games.

“We should have won that game,” Smith said. “We were at home with every bit equal talent and they won the game. The tougher of the two teams won this game. They played tougher and with more confidence than we did tonight.”

Mells led the Griffons in scoring with 12 points including two from 3-point distance while Alfreeman Flowers put in 10 points, including nearly hitting a full court shot at the buzzer of regulation that would have ended it. Dzenan Mrkaljevic was all over the glass for 15 rebounds as Western out-rebounded Washburn 43-34.

“That was not two great teams out there tonight,” Smith said. “I felt like we played great at Topeka and as well as any team in the league, but we didn’t tonight.”

The Griffons are down to their last four regulation games before the MIAA tournament.

Cedric Clinkscales, Junior, pushes the Washburn defense to stay on their toes. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Cedric Clinkscales gets two of his nine points in the paint, he added seven rebounds. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

Cedric Clinkscales, Junior goes up for a rebound. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor.

Adarius Fulton, Junior, spins around Washburn defense to score a lay-up. The Griffons come up short 56-52 in overtime. Evan Roberts | Photo Editor

“For us to be serious, I think we need another win against one of the contenders and beat Kearney(Nebraska) and Southern Baptist,” coach Tom Smith said.

With four games left to play, the Griffons find themselves clinging to the last spot in the tournament with a one-game lead over Truman State University.

The Griffons will play in a hostile environment against rival Northwest Missouri State in Maryville on Feb. 20.  The Bearcats are currently locked in to a three way tie  for the No. 5 seed in the tournament and hold a three game lead over Western.  However, Western holds a 1-0 record against this season as they pulled off an 71-58 upset over the Bearcats at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

Western will return home on Feb. 23 to play Nebraska-Kearney who has only won three games in the conference this season and sit at second to last.  Western also beat Kearney the only time that the two schools met this season 74-66.

A tough road contest lies on Feb. 27 when the Griffons travel to Hays, Kan. to play Fort Hays State who is tied for first place in the conference.  The Griffons played them tough in the first contest against Hays, but fell 84-74 in overtime.

Seeding should be on the line for the last game of the season when Southwest Baptist comes to play at the MWSU Fieldhouse on March 2.  Baptist holds only a one game lead over Western in the MIAA standings and the two teams haven’t met up at all this season.

The MIAA only has one team ranked in the top-25 nationally and none of the teams appear to be unbeatable heading into the final stretch of the season.

“I can’t ever recall this league not having one or two teams in the top-25,” Smith said. “No one is just completely dominant and can go out there and overpower everybody. No matter what happens — no matter where you go — you have a chance and you may or may not play well but you have a chance.”

Smith has cut his rotation down to seven or eight players in preparation of the post season.  For the players part, they don’t want to be the team that didn’t give Smith the opportunity to coach in one last postseason tournament before he retires after the season.

“That’s not how he wants to go out and we don’t want the season to end like that,” guard Reed Mells said. “We missed it last year and we all felt pretty bad about that so we don’t want to miss it again. We just need to win as many gaems as we can. I think it’s doable to make the tournament and we are more talented than our record shows, but this point in the season you are who you are so we just need to get in and try to be dangerous.”

The Griffons have struggled with consistency, but have shown  improvement over the course of the season and are aiming to play their best basketball down the stretch.

“Consistency is our biggest issue,” Mells said.  ”I think we have games and practices where we take steps back or we don’t get better which you can’t afford, especially now, but overall I think weve been getting better.”

Sophomore guard Reed Mells coordinating teamates in the the contest against Washburn University | JQ Dever Staff Writer

Western men’s basketball put on its best shooting display of the season in a 79-74 upset win over No. 17-ranked Washburn University in Topeka, Kan.

The Griffons shot a season-high in 3-point and field goal percentage, hitting 50 percent from deep and 57.8 percent overall. Six players registered double-figure scoring for the first time this season.

“It’s unbelievable for us,” coach Tom Smith said. “Everything just kind of went right. We got a lot better shots than we’ve been getting too. We moved the ball better and had a lot better rhythm in what we did. We kept talking about giving ourselves a chance to win and we did.”

Point guard Reed Mells came up clutch by making six straight free throws down the stretch to seal up the victory. Mells had a breakout game scoring 18 points, dishing out seven assists, grabbing four rebounds and stole the ball three times on the defensive end.

“Reed sparked us and fueled us taking over the point guard role,” Smith said. “He’s had trouble with that responsibility and he did it.”

One of the biggest transitions for sophomore Mells at the college level has been learning to impact every aspect of the game, not just focus on scoring the basketball. He plans to continue to make the type of all-around contributions that he displayed against Washburn.

“To be a really good or great player you have to be able to affect the game in multiple areas and passing is an area where I think that I can help the team,” Mells said.

After a tightly contested first half, the Griffons fell down 58-49 midway through the second half but never lost their composure facing the deficit.

“We really did a good job of keeping the tempo the way we needed it,” Smith said. “We went down by nine and never hit the panic button.”

Dzenan Mrkaljevic scored 16 points in just 21 minutes by hitting 6-for-7 from the field including 3-for-4 from 3-point distance. Dylan Frantz and Alfreeman Flowers score 12 points each while Cedric Clinkscales scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Kalvin Balque added 10 points including 2-for-3 from 3-point distance.

“Late in the game, we just executed very well and played a more physical game than they probably thought we could play,” Balque said. “We started to execute and it was hard to stop us.”

Western withstood 32 points from Martin Mitchell and 16 from Will McNeil, a scoring output from two players that would usually result in a loss if not for the hot shooting. Western’s post players out-scored the Ichabod big men.

“I thought our ball movement was really good,” Smith said. “We moved the ball well and our 3′s had a lot of rhythm to them. It was just boom,boom, boom in rhythm.”

Western was more efficient from the 3-point line, connecting on 10-for-20 from 3-point distance while Washburn manage to hit only 8-for-24.

With the win, Western improved to 9-12 on the season and 5-8 in MIAA conference play.

Dylan Frantz looks for the open man against Northeastern State. He led the Griffons with five assists.  Photo by Jason Brown

Western men (8-12, 4-8) started hot, but it didn’t last as Northeastern State University (15-5, 8-4) got warmed up and handed the Griffons their second consecutive loss at the MWSU Fieldhouse 73-61.

Alex Tuluka-Pfumupembe got things going early with back-to-back 3-pointers which gave the Griffons a 6-0 lead.  Reed Mells added a 3 and a Cedric Clinkscales layup put the Griffons up 11-3 early.

“You could tell the energy level wasn’t good for us after the first eight minutes,” coach Tom Smith said. “The thing that bothers me the most is it’s the first time I can say that we didn’t give much effort.”

It was all Northeastern State for the rest of the game.  More specifically, it was all point guard Bryton Hobbs.  Hobbs penetrated the Western zone defense when he had a man in his face and made open shots when the defense backed off.  He finished with 32 points on 10-for-17 from the field and added nine rebounds and three assists.

“Hobbs did everything,” Smith said. “All around he was just the best player on the floor and one of the smallest.  We knew he was good coming in.”

Western shot just 41 percent from the field and wasn’t getting the type of shots in the offense that they wanted.  When they got good looks, they couldn’t put enough of them down to keep the game close.

“We are just  settling for shots that we can always get,” Dylan Frantz said.  “We just got to get it figured out, we have to dig in as a team and be smart get the best shots that we can.”

“I just feel like we all just need to have confidence in ourselves and play together more,” Frantz said. “We have to want it; we have to come with more focus and intensity and maybe our shots will start falling.”

Part of the reason for the loss is that the Griffons were beat on the glass 39-24.

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons in scoring with 13 points while Dzenan Mrkaljevic added 12.  Frantz added seven points and five assists.

The Griffons will now try and refocus to avoid missing the MIAA post-season tournament where 12 out of the 15 teams in the conference get in. Western is currently sitting at No. 12.

“It’s all about practice,” Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “We need to go harder and come with a lot of energy. We are playing like we are on the top of the league and we aren’t and I don’t understand that. Every game we need to come harder and be some dogs out here.”

The Griffons will get a boost in leadership and defense with the return of point guard Adarius Fulton who has missed the last two games with concussion-like symptoms.  Western return to action Wednesday, Feb. 6 at Washburn in Topeka, Kan.

The Griffons improved to 8-10 overall and 4-6 in MIAA conference play.

“It was a play coming out of the timeout. They set up a pick and roll for me,” Mrkaljevic said. “Coach told me not to pass the ball and take that shot. He was feeling confident in me and I appreciate that when my coach and teammates feel confidence in me to take a shot like that.”

Mrkaljevic also scored a career-high 17 points that included hitting 3-for-5 from 3-point distance. The game-winning shot was his first experience in that type of situation and has given him a boost in confidence going forward.

Coach Tom Smith felt the game against Lincoln was a must-win for keeping the Griffons MIAA tournament hopes alive.

“Had we not won at Lincoln it would have been a really uphill battle to get in the tournament at all,” Smith said. “It still is because of our remaining eight games, six of them are against dynamite teams.”

Lincoln’s record sits at 3-17 and 2-8 in MIAA, but Smith knew that could be deceiving. He saw how they beat Northwest Missouri State in Maryville and knew that they couldn’t accomplish that with no talent.

Point guard Adarius Fulton, who scored 17 points, didn’t expect Lincoln to be as tough as they were, but is glad to move forward with a win nonetheless.

“I think it was a good win, a hard fought win,” Fulton said. “Lincoln had some great shooters and they were a better team than we probably thought, but I think it was a good win for our team.”

Earlier in the week, the Griffons fell to Central Missouri University in Warrensburg 72-60.

Coach Smith was honored before the game as he started off his hall of fame coaching career with the Mules.

“I didn’t feel like we played all that poorly in a tough environment,” Smith said. “I thought we were a little intimidated in the beginning with the crowd and all the festivities around me.”

Cedric Clinkscales paced the Griffons with 21 points and six rebounds while Fulton added 17.

The Griffons were beat on the boards 37-33 and failed to execute when the opportunity to cut into the lead presented itself.

“We missed three huge shots that would have cut the deficit down to six,” Smith said. “We had three wide open 3’s to cut it from nine to six and two times it went from nine to 12.”

Central Missouri is one of the top teams in the conference with a record of 13-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

“I thought we played okay at Central,” Smith said. “We were never really in the game and we were never really out of it.”

Reed Mells attempting one of his four assists in transition. Photo by Evan Roberts.

Western (8-11, 4-7) played  at the pace it wanted, but came up short in the final moments 57-56 against Pittsburg State (12-5, 5-4) in physical game  at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

“I’m not going to sit here and fault the players,” Coach Tom Smith said.  “We made the effort, lost by one and had complete control of the tempo best for us. I thought we did what we needed to do to keep the game slow and used our timeouts and sets.”

The Griffons had a chance to make the go-ahead basket, but a missed shot rolled nearly all the way to the other end of the court taking precious seconds off the clock.  Pittsburg State tracked the ball down and went to the free throw line where Kaleb Porter missed two free-throws.

Western had one last chance with 2.5 left on the clock and down by one point, but they had to go the entire distance which wasn’t possible. Dzenan Mrkaljevic was forced to throw up a 3-point shot that was far too deep to stand a chance to at going in and the game ended.

“A lot of people like to talk about what happened throughout the game, but this came down to the last minute and a half,” Smith said.  “At least three times we had a chances to come up with the rebound and give us possession back with a chance to score. Whether we would have or not, I don’t know. But it would have given us the opportunity.”

Great work on the defensive end allowed the Griffons to stay control the action for most of the night despite shooting just 32 percent from the field for the game while the Gorillas hit at 41.7 percent and getting out-rebounded 42-33.  Western was also without it’s leading backcourt scorer, point guard Adarius Fulton because of concussion symptoms.

“We just try not to give up baseline,” Kalvin Balque said. “On film, they were just getting baseline and the big guys were scoring all their points.  We tried to keep them off baseline and we did that.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons in scoring with 15 points and added eight rebounds while Balque added an efficient 11 points in 15 minutes of action on 3-for-4 from the field including hitting his only 3-point attempt and was perfect in four attempts from the foul line.

Balque’s seven point spurt in the first half was a big spark in taking a 27-23 lead into the halftime break.  He provided some excitement for the crowd when he was able to dunk in a lob in transition that appeared to be heading for the bleachers.

After scoring a career-high 17 points last game, Mrkaljevic had a rough outing from the field hitting on 2-for-14 from the field and 2-for-8 from 3-point distance. However, he led the Griffons in rebounds by pulling down nine.  Western made just 7-for-24 from 3-point distance.

The Griffons return to action against Northeastern University at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.  Western will need to come up with some wins in this brutal stretch of top MIAA competition to keep post-seasons hopes alive.

“There’s a little more pressure on us now,” Balque said. “We really need these wins. We are just going to come in tomorrow and get better.”

Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor" width="150" height="150" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-14783" /> Kalvin Balque (2) shooting free throw for the griffon. Griffon men lost the game against Lindenwood 78-69 Gilbert Imbiri | Asst. Photo Editor

“Players have to make shots,” coach Tom Smith said. “You can do all you want, but the players have to make the shots and we certainly didn’t make any key shots down the stretch today.”

The Griffons gave up 78 points, more than they are accustomed to allowing the opponent to score at home.  Smith said that one of his rules is to never give up the baseline and there were a couple of instances late in the game where Lindenwood was able to drive baseline and score.

“We’re just going to work on our defese when we get back to practice,” guard Kalvin Balque said. “The offensive execution was bad tonight, but it’s usually not bad. We have to work on defense.”

The Griffons try to run their offense through post man Cedric Clinkscales, but Lindenwood made it difficult to get the ball inside as they were double-teaming the Griffon big.  Clinkscales finished with a team-high 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.

“That’s our game plan most of the time,” guard Reed Mells said. “We haven’t seen anyone who could stop Ced yet, so we have to get him the ball. Sometimes we don’t really do a great job getting him the ball where he is really effective and I think tonight was one of those nights.”

The high point of the night for Western came in the form of two highlight reel dunks from Alfreeman Flowers in traffic and one from Balque as he posterized a Lindenwood player on a fast break.  However, the Griffons were unable to sustain the momentum from these plays as Lindenwood kept focus and responded with baskets of their own.

“I thought Lindenwood did a great job of not reacting to our big plays,” Smith said. “They were really good about not letting that affect them.”

Guard Adarius Fulton didn’t have his best game scoring the ball (six points), but make some very good  plays coming away with four steals and five assists.  Fulton ranks near the very top of the MIAA in steals per game and has become a master a forcing the opposition to turn the ball over this season.

“He just has a great nose for the ball and that’s really helped us,” Smith said.

Western was dominated on the glass, getting out-rebounded 38-to-24.  Lindenwood committed 13 more turnovers than did Western, but it wasn’t enough to come away with the win.

“I know we can play better,” Mells said. “We played better against Northwest; this was kind of a bad loss for us. Lindenwood is a good team, but we shouldn’t have lost.”

The Griffons were without senior guard James Harris for the first time as he is no longer with the team due to disciplinary reasons.  Harris was averaging 8 points per game in 24 minutes.

Western returns to action on Saturday  against Emporia State University.  Tip off is set for 3:30 p.m in Emporia, Kan.

Western’s all-time leading rusher Michael Hill will play in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic in Montgomery, Ala. on Saturday, January 19.  His team will be coached by ex-NFL head coach Dan Reeves.  The practices are open to the public.

Travis Partridge, Michael Hill, Macon Allen, and David Bass were selected to the first team Don Hanson All Super Region 3 team. Ben Pister and Shane Simpson were honored by being selected to the third-team all defense.

Griffons baseball held its first practice of the highly anticipated season.  The Griffons start the season with high expectations as Collegiate Baseball Lineup ranked them No. 25 in their preseason poll.

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Smith leans in as he watches his team play. Jason Brown | Submitted Photo

It’s a game where even the legends are often forced out early. According to Smith, the reason for being able to survive at one place while most others can’t all boils down to his ability to get along with people.

“I haven’t had more than two or three meetings with an athletic director or a president,” Smith said. “So I’ve never been in their office asking for anything or fought with them. I think that has made it possible to survive six athletic directors and three presidents.”

“That’s the most difficult thing to do is can you get along with six different personalities that come in here and are the boss and three different presidents that all may have different ideas,” Smith said.

That’s a luxury that he didn’t have when coaching at his alma matter Division I Valparaiso, a place where he played basketball and was elected into the Hall of Fame last season.

The school was D-I in classification only as the team traveled by van and had very little money to spend on trips recruiting the type of talent that it takes to build a winner.

Smith’s passion was coaching basketball and he was tired of fighting for so many things that didn’t have to do with playing the game to get the program up to the standards that would allow it to be successful at the D-I level.

“When I came here one of the things I made my mind up about is I was not going to fight those things,” Smith said. “I wanted to coach my players. I wanted to have the relationship with my players that I think I’ve had over the last 25 years. I didn’t want to fight administration. I took what I had and didn’t get into the other things.”

Smith became the third ever head coach at Western in 1988 when the school was in its last season in the NAIA. The success started immediately as the Griffons made it all the way to the finals of the District 16 playoffs.

The very next season in the school’s first year as a member of Division II, Smith led the Griffons to the MIAA regular season and tournament championship and a birth in the NCAA tournament. He has coached the Griffons to 11 NCAA tournaments, five MIAA regular season titles and four MIAA postseason championships as well as being named MIAA Coach of the Year three times.  12 times he coached Western to a 20 plus win season.

Besides a few exceptions, Smith always went to the junior college ranks to find his players. He credits his three assistant coaches for recruiting the players over the years.

He built a reputation for being able to lose key players off of good teams while finding a way to keep winning with new talent who had no prior experience on the court together.

“I think most coaches and people would say the ability to change my team and bring in four or five new guys every year and still be successful,” Smith said. “I think that was probably my biggest attribute.”

He had athletic  players and gave them the freedom to do what they could do as opposed to always running a set offense. Something that he thinks most people have a bit of a misperception about.

“Its kind of funny because I’ve read so many things that we are a real uptempo team and we’re not,” Smith said. “Freedom is one thing and I’ve been successful here many years giving a lot of freedom.”

“We aren’t really a great fast break team even in the good years,” Smith said. “The thing that surprises most people is that we are a lot more disciplined than fans think we are. Some of that is stereotyped into the type of players we have.

This is something that Smith admits hasn’t brought the same type of success the last six or seven years as it once did even though his teams have still been competitive. Senior guard James Harris wants to do everything he can to send Smith off on a winning note in his season coaching the game that’s been a part of his life since day one.

“We are trying to get him a ring before he leaves and we want one just as bad as he does,” Harris said. “He’s a real cool guy. He gets on you, but all he’s doing is trying to challenge you as a man. I respect him as an individual and as a coach.”

When Smith came to Western, he never imagined that it would be the last job he would take in his career. He thought that he would bounce back up to D-I. He was offered head coaching jobs there quickly after winning right away at Western.

But each time he thought about leaving and making the jump, he started to see all the same red flags that he saw while running the Valparaiso program for eight years. That and he had a good thing going.

“I enjoy the quality of life that goes along with Division II,” Smith said. “Just the freedom to be able to do what I wanted to do – to coach — and I didn’t have to teach a lot or do a lot of fund raising. There were not a lot of other demands on me other than my coaching.”

Athletic Direct Kurt McGuffin believes that Smith has made the job an attractive one for whoever takes over and expects there to be plenty of candidates to choose from.

“You may see it at the very top levels, but you don’t see it this level much and to do that is pretty special,” McGuffin said. “He’s won a lot of games and has a lot of players that come back and he’s a neat guy. He’s done everything I’ve ever asked and that anybody before me has asked.”

As for his retirement, Smith doesn’t know exactly what he’s going to do yet. Basketball has always been his thing and he doesn’t hunt, fish, play much golf or have any hobbies. His love for the game won’t change and he will enjoy watching MIAA games more than the stress of coaching them.

“I would really like to be able to watch games without a dog in the hunt,” Smith said. “I think it will be more fun with some popcorn and a coke and just watch the game and enjoy it.”

Missouri Western guard James Harris drives the ball as the Griffons pull away from Illinios-Springfield. The Griffons defeated the Praire Stars with the final score of 61-50.
submited photo: Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball avoided a late comeback attempt to defeat Illinois-Springfield 61-50 on Saturday, Dec. 1, at MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons improved to 4-2 on the season.

“I think this was a good solid win, not a great win, but a good solid win going forward,” coach Tom Smith said.

The Griffons were up 54-38 with eight minutes to play when Illinois-Springfield went on a run to cut the lead down to 55-50 over the next four minutes. Western responded with physical defense and points in the paint to finish the game.

“That’s just what you are going to go through in basketball,” junior Cedric Clinkscales said. “We just had to stay composed and keep going.”

Western’s zone defense forced Illinois-Springfield to shoot and miss from outside for most of the night. The Prairie Stars shot just 3-for-18 from 3-point distance and were held to 38 percent from the field.

“We were closing out on them with every shot they took,” forward Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “The most important thing is that we keep the ball out of the middle because when it’s in the middle then it’s easy for them to find people on the wing.”

A key to Western’s success is winning the battle of turnovers. The Griffons turned the ball over eight times while the Prairie Stars committed 17 turnovers.

“Anytime you keep your turnovers in single digits, that’s good,” Smith said. “It’s hard to do; it means we are taking care of the ball.”

Smith was happy with the defensive effort, but concerned by the lack of execution on offense and feels that his team will need to score more than 61 points at home in the future.

“I thought when they made the run we forgot about Cedric down low,” Smith said. “You could feel the momentum change a little bit.”

Clinkscales paced the Griffons with 18 points on 9-for-15 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Tuluka-Mfumupembe scored 12 points, including two from 3-point distance. Point guard Adarius Fulton added nine points, five rebounds, and three assists while forward Alfreeman Flowers dropped in eight points on 2-for-3 shooting.

Western converted on 10-for-15 free throw attempts and shot 41.1 percent from the field. The Griffons defense accounted for seven blocks and four steals.

The Griffons return to action on Dec. 5 against Truman State, which will be the start of MIAA conference play.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think we are ready for conference play,” Tuluka-Mfumupembe said. “Everyone is excited about that.”

James Harris dropped 18 points and added 4 steals in the win over Rockhurst University. *Photo by Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball improved to 2-1 after defeating Rockhurst University 60-45 in the Hillyard Classic at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 17.

The Griffons started slow on offense as Rockhurst took a 31-26 lead into halftime yet only allowed 14 points in the entire second half.

“I want performance and I want accountability,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought the guys in the second half gave us that accountability.”

A 3-point shot by Adarius Fulton and then old fashioned 3-point play by Cedric Clinkscales tied the game at 42 and the Griffons didn’t look back. Rockhurst was stuck on 42 points for the next six minutes while Western continued to score, pushing the lead to 53-42.

“One thing coach keeps preaching is moving the ball and playing as a team,” guard James Harris said. “We just get easier buckets when we play together.”

Harris led the Griffons in scoring with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting off the bench. He also provided a big spark on defense with his four momentum-changing steals.

“The best thing about James has been his attitude of coming off the bench,” Smith said. “I don’t think he’s sulked about it and he’s just relished it. Coming off the bench, he feels that he can give us some offense.”

Point guard Adarius Fulton added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and also impacted the game with eight rebounds and four assists. Smith trusts Fulton to make the right basketball play down the stretch.

“I’m different than a lot of coaches,” Smith said. “I’m old school and I play the people that I trust on the floor.”

Big man Cedric Clinkscales score 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting in 20 minutes. Foul trouble kept him out for a large stretch in the first half.

The Griffons kept their poise and bounced back from a disappointing loss on Nov. 16 against William Jewell.

“We wanted to do it for the home crowd,” Clinkscales said. “They came out and show support and we felt like we let them down last night. We wanted to set the tone and win tonight.”

Smith felt that Rockhurst could have been worn out from facing a physical Northwest Missouri State team on Nov. 16 and expects to see a different version of the team when the Griffons travel to Kansas City on Nov. 24.

Cedric Clinkscales came away with a double-double in the loss to William-Jewell. *Photo by Jason Brown

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball couldn’t create enough offense to overcome William Jewell’s 3-point shooting.  William Jewell made 10 3-pointers, downing the Griffons 76-60 in the first game of the Hillyard Classic at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 16.

Western dropped to 1-1 on the season after going 2-for-17 from 3-point distance.

“I just felt we got manhandled,” coach Tom Smith said. “It was offense tonight. You aren’t going to win games scoring 60 points at home.”

Cedric Clinkscales led the Griffons with 21 points and also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Clinkscales provided the lone bright spot for Western’s offense.

The Griffons were down by 10 at halftime but couldn’t make a serious run in the second half as the long distance shot was not going in.

“As soon as they punched us a little bit in the first half, our answer was ‘let’s shoot another 3,’” Smith said. “We’ve got Ced in there dominating; we would have been very content to just stay inside and get the ball inside.”

Western cut the lead down to 56-50 with just over seven minutes to play but couldn’t cut into the lead further. William Jewell ran the score out to 66-51 over the next three minutes and the Griffons never got close again.

Western’s guards were not able to add much scoring and struggled from the field. James Harris went 1-for-6 while Reed Mells shot 0-for-5. Adarius Fulton and Dylan Frantz, who started the game, shot a combined 4-for-9.

William Jewell had four players register double figures in scoring; Dillon Deck had 15 points and 9 rebounds; Taylor John scored 13 points and added seven rebounds, Ricky Tisdale scored 11 points; and Devonte Bell dropped in 10 points.

“Lack of execution, that’s what it was for us tonight,” Clinkscales said. “We were rushing shots. I think we tried to match them 3-for-3 and it wasn’t working for us tonight. We have to do better.”

The Griffons were beat on the boards 34-30 and lost the turnover battle 16-to-13. Smith expects the physicality to continue as the season goes on.

“I don’t think that William Jewell is MIAA level,” Smith said. “We will see a lot of teams more physical than them.”

Western will have a chance to bounce back from the home loss Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. as they take on Rockhurst University at the MWSU Fieldhouse in the second night of the Hillyard Classic.

“We will come back in the morning and reassess ourselves tomorrow and hopefully get it done,” Clinkscales said. “I tried to stay positive the whole time. It’s just one of those nights and we just got to regroup.”

Griffon Forward Dzenan Mrkaljevic goes up for a shot. The 6’8 big man led the team to victory with 17 rebounds and 10 points.

Missouri Western Men’s Basketball won its regular season opener with a 75-44 blowout of Sterling College at MWSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 13.

The Griffons played lock-down defense, holding Sterling to 4-for-21 from 3-point distance and 36 percent from the field while creating 13 steals.

“Defensively there are still things we need to work on, but a lot of effort was given tonight,” guard Dylan Frantz said. “We can crash the boards better, but we are still working on it and we’ll get better.”

The Griffons out-rebounded the smaller Sterling team 45-to-29 with Dzenan Mrkaljevic grabbing 17 rebounds, one shy of the school record. Mrkaljevic showed his versatility by stepping out and hitting two 3-pointers.

“I think he did a great job today,” coach Tom Smith said. “We need him to rebound. They weren’t very big and size had a lot to do with it. The question is will he rebound like that way against bigger people.”

James Harris led all scorers with 13 points off the bench while forward Cedric Clinkscales added 12. Mrkaljevic and Frantz scored 10 points each while Reed Mells poured in nine off of three 3-point shots.

Smith hopes to rely on Harris and Mells to continue to give the Griffons instant offense off the bench.

“I really like the feeling that I can bring them off the bench and get a little firepower in there,” Smith said. “They are more offensive minded by far than our others guards.”

On defense it was Adarius Fulton and Freddie Manyawu disrupting the passing lanes and creating four steals each while Tevin Harris was credited with two. Manyawu is a sophomore that didn’t see much time last season, but could make an impact this year.

“He gives us length for the defense in the zone,” Smith said. “He really has a high basketball IQ.”

The Western bench outscored Sterling’s second unit 35-to-12 and the Griffons were up 34-to-19 at the halftime break.  The large lead allowed Smith to play 12 players which is more than usual.

“You earn your time out here,” Smith said. “I think we can go nine or 10 deep and get some minutes out of people.”

Clinkscales was bigger and stronger than anybody Sterling had to go up against him in the post.  He dominated the smaller NAIA big men today, but feels like that will continue into MIAA conference play.

“Being physical, I’m built for that,” Clinkscales said. “MIAA, I’m coming. We’re going to make some noise this year.”

Heather Howard, former Oklahoma State University player, has one last year of eligibility left. Rob Edmisson, the new women’s basketball coach, has convinced her to play out that year as a Griffon instead of a Cowgirl.

“I came up here and I loved it,” Howard said. “I loved coach Edmisson’s attitude about coaching and life and everything in general. I loved the girls I met here and the girls that were on a visit at the same time I was. It was just the right fit.”

Edmisson saw Howard as a perfect fit for the style of play he wants to bring to Western and believes her abilities are hard to come by at this level.

“She’s 6-3 and runs as well as most guards in this conference,” Edmisson said. “She can step out and shoot, she’s really agile and really athletic. She’s going to be a hard matchup in this conference because of her mobility. She fits into our style of play and we like to be fast and really get up and down the floor.”

Howard was an outstanding student at Oklahoma State. She loaded herself up with enough credits to graduate a year early. Aware of her academics being ahead of schedule, she was ready to be done as an athlete as well. That was until Edmisson contacted her through her coach and convinced her to go on a visit.

“At first I had no interest because I thought I was burned out on basketball and kind of ready to be done,” Howard said. “The more I talked to him, the more I thought about it and prayed about it and I said to myself, ‘I have one year left; if I don’t take this opportunity now, I’ll regret it the rest of my life.’”

Teammate KC Clouser is excited for what Howard brings to the team.

“She creates tons of mismatches on the court due to her height and abilities beyond the arch,” Clouser said, “and putting the ball on the floor and running the floor as a big girl.”

Although there are a lot of changes going on in the women’s basketball program, there is no room for excuses when it comes to a team this competitive.

“We sat down at the beginning of the season and said one of our main goals was to be in the top three teams of the conference,” Howard said.

Howard not only has team goals to seek and accomplish, she also has personal goals as well.

“In the past I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself,” Howard said, “and when I haven’t met my expectations, I’m really hard on myself and that drags me down even more. I’ll still put pressure on myself, but in a way I can let loose and have fun and love the game that I play.”

There will definitely be less pressure on her as a Griffon than there was as a Cowgirl from the crowds’ perspective. Just last season, Howard had played in games that equal the average attendance of Western’s football games. In one game in particular against Iowa State, she played in front of a crowd of over 10,000. Last season the OSU team played in front of crowds that totaled up to be over 116,000 fans.

It’s probably safe to say that she will be fine under pressured situations in front of MIAA crowds.

She definitely will bring much needed experience to a very fresh team. She has done things that not a lot of Division II athletes ever get to experience, such as play in the Big 12 Championship and find playing time during March Madness in the NCAA tournament.

“Basketball is second only to God and my family in my life,” Mells said. “It’s the only thing I am really passionate about outside of those two things. I love playing and whatever is going on in my head whenever I step on the court is gone, all I can think about is ball.”

With his father coaching the team, Mells started running the point at the age of five. He still carries the same values today that his father instilled in him back then.

“He always told me if you are going to do something then try to be great at it,” Mells said. “Just be as good as you can be, and I really just took that to heart.”

Unlike most 18-year-old freshmen, Mells doesn’t hesitate when asked what he wants to do with his life and the direction he wants it to go. He plans to use his time at Western as a vehicle to a professional career.

“I want to play as long as I can at the highest level that I can,” Mells said. “Whether that’s professionally in the NBA or oversees or wherever, I just want to keep playing.”

Mells feels like he is right where he is supposed to be and is happy with his decision to choose to play at Western for coach Tom Smith. It wasn’t easy for Mells to get a scholarship offer to play college basketball because of his 5-10, 165 pound frame and because of his location.

Mells hails from Des Moines, Iowa, which is not known as a hot bed for major basketball talent. Harrison Barnes, who will be a top-5 pick in June’s NBA Draft, was that guy who garnered all of the attention in Iowa. Outside of Barnes, most players from the area are often overlooked by the power houses.

“I went to a really small school and there was always doubts about whether I was going to be tall enough or strong enough to play at this level or any other level,” Mells said. “It was really hard, but Coach Smith had a lot of confidence in me.”

As a senior in high school, Mells was part of a team that won 18 straight games and beat three of the top-ranked teams in the state playoffs. He averaged 20.5 points per game, 7.1 assists per game, 3.8 steals per game and 5.0 rebounds per game while leading his team to a district championship. He once lit up 45 points in a game on the road.

“Being a small guard, my game is being able to get around people and get shots for myself and my teammates so being quick and being fast is a huge part of my game,” Mells said.

Rarely do freshman step in and contribute at a four-year school right away, but Mells was given his opportunity with Western struggling to accumulate wins and having injury problems.  He showed no fear of the moment and stepped into the starting lineup; his impact was felt immediately on the offense end.  Mells started the last nine games of the season and dropped 17 points against Washburn.

Mells has his focus on doing his part to make sure Western is a winner next season.

“Coach Smith gave me a lot of confidence. He told me that he thought I was ready and that he thought I deserved some more minutes and he was going to give them to me and see how I responded,” said Mells.

Mells credits some of the success of his transition to college basketball to unselfish upperclassmen Deionta Mitchell and James Harris, who play the same point guard position.

“The older guys, just being point guards, were definitely really encouraging,” Mells said. “They would pick me up; they would also instruct me on how to do it the right way. It meant a lot that guys you would consider your brothers would really have your back like that.”

Western finished the season at a disappointing 9-17 overall and 4-16 in MIAA conference play and struggled down the stretch of the season, failing to make the conference tournament.  Mells will do everything in his power to ensure that next season isn’t a repeat performance.

“This has been the worst year of my life as far as basketball has gone,” Mells said. “I can’t really blame anybody but the 14 of us in uniform. This was our season and we made it what it was, and now it’s a new team, a new year, and we have to make it what we want it to be.”

Mells has learned that playing in the MIAA conference is every bit as tough as Coach Smith claimed it would be.

“I don’t know if DII basketball, especially this league, gets the respect it deserves,” Mells said. “There are a lot of great players in this league.”

It’s the off-season right now, but Mells knows what he needs to improve on and add to his game in order to turn his team into a winner next season.

“I have to work a lot on my physical strength,” Mells said. “To help me get in the lane and find open guys so I don’t get stripped so much. That’s the next step. Coach Smith and I were talking a couple times and he said I need to become more of a true point guard especially when I keep playing this game longer because you don’t see a lot of 5-10 guards averaging 20 points per game.”

This summer, Mells will be fine tuning his skills in the Capitol City League in Des Moines against Iowa State players and other college ballers that play in the Iowa area.

Mells’ goal is to spend four years turning Western into a winner and earn All-American status while continuing to prove that he can play the game that he loves at a high level.

“Hopefully at the end of this four years, we have some banners hanging up.” Mells said. “I want them to say: ‘This kid from Western, he could really go.’”

Western was put in a must-win situation against Central Missouri, while needing both Lincoln and Emporia St. to lose for any chance to get into the MIAA tournament.

The Griffons never fell behind the Mules until the final three minutes, when their turnovers resulted in big points for UCM, putting a cap on the game at 74-68.

“Winners make winning plays and losers make losing plays,” coach Tom Smith said. “That’s probably the story of our year. We just came up empty.”

The Griffons had control of the first half, at one point reaching a 16-point lead. They were able to end the half by holding UCM to only 23 points.

The second half was nothing more and nothing less than a deteriorating lead for the Griffons. The Mules shot 65 percent from the field in the second half, a huge improvement from their first half shooting of only 35 percent. The Mules scoring was led by Dominique Long, who was able to put up the game high 26 points against the Griffons.

The loss was especially hard on senior forward, Lavonte Douglas, who put up great numbers and grabbed his sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds, only missing three shots from the field.

“It just comes down to the same thing every game, can’t close them out,” Douglas said. “We just got to keep fighting, and we’ve been fighting. We never quit.”

Statistics didn’t mean as much to Douglas after knowing the effort still resulted in falling short of what the Griffons needed most.

“I’d rather take two points and two rebounds with a win,” Douglas said.

Another senior who sadly came up just short of his last MIAA tournament opportunity was T.J. Johnson, who was able to get himself 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Johnson was able to see the positives from this team and this season — good things that he’ll be able to carry on after basketball.

“We’re a family, man, through the bad season we’ve been together,” Johnson said. “I’ve got brothers for a lifetime. I know that I can call these guys if I ever need anything, and they’ll be there. It’s not all about basketball. We’re a family and we have to be together.”

The seniors will play their last game as Griffons against Southwest Baptist at 3:30 Saturday, Feb. 25 at MWSU Fieldhouse.

“We are who we are, our record is what it is. We have to win every game,” coach Tom Smith said. “We have four left, two on the road, and all four teams have beaten us. In order for us to make the tournament we would have to win all four of them.”

The next contest will be in Jefferson City against Lincoln on Feb. 15, who sits one place ahead of the Griffons in the MIAA standings at 3-13 in conference play and 3-19 overall. Western dropped the first game between the two 66-63 in the final moments at MWSU Fieldhouse and will be looking for revenge against the Blue Tigers, who have lost eight straight games.

“I would be surprised if we don’t go to Jefferson City on Wednesday and play pretty well,” Smith said.

The second must-win on Feb. 18 will feature the Griffons traveling to Kirksville to battle Truman State, who is 4-12 in conference play and 6-17 overall. Truman won the first contest 87-86 in overtime at MWSU Fieldhouse and is on a three-game losing streak.

The Griffons will finish the season with Central Missouri on Feb. 22 and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 25. Western dropped a close one in the first game against Southern Baptist 64-61 and were beat 64-48 in Warrensburg by Central.

“I think we all feel like the can go to Lincoln and win, we all feel like we can go to Truman and win, and we all feel like we can come home and beat Central Missouri and Baptist,” Smith said. “The difference is what we have to do to do it. There’s not going to be any more talking about it because it has to get done.”

The Griffons confidence comes from being in nearly every game down to the final buzzer. Western has lost eight games by six points or less.

“I think our kids feel like they can win every game,” Smith said. “It’s been tough on them to give the kind of effort that they have given and not be particularly successful.”

The game at Northwest was another one of those games where the Griffons were close but just couldn’t get the win. The Bearcats were forced to hit free throws to avoid Western from winning the game with a late run.

“We haven’t rolled over and played dead for anybody,” Smith said. “Northwest felt like they were going to have a pretty easy time on Saturday, they didn’t. We were down 3 with 16 seconds but we just couldn’t quite get that big stop or a free-throw miss that would have made the difference.”

Lavonte Douglas led the Griffons in scoring with 14 points, and also pulled down 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, while T.J. Johnson and James Harris scored 13 each.

The Griffons can point to offense and not a lack of defensive intensity as the main cause of their losing record. Western ranks fifth in the conference, giving up 67 points per game.

“We are as good defensively as we have been in 10 years, I don’t care what anybody says,” Smith said. “Unfortunately we are a little short offensively and that’s been our downfall; there’s no question. We would have won a lot of games in the past if we could hold teams in the 60s.”

Northwest sits at 17-3 overall and 11-3 in MIAA conference play while Western has dropped 13 of its last 15 games and has a record of 7-14 overall and 2-13 in conference play.

Western will have to stop the pair of Northwest guards that hurt them the first time around. DeShaun Cooper scored 21 points and dished out five assists, while Kyle Haake went for 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Although both guards for the Bearcats went off for 20 points, Northwest still only managed to score 64. Western lost the game because they couldn’t produce enough offense, even though their defense was solid.

For the Griffons, James Harris scores 13 points per game, while Lavonte Douglas scores 12.4, and T.J. Johnson adds 12. All three players were held in single-digit scoring during the first contest. Coach Tom Smith will need more from his big three on Saturday. Harris is coming off of a career-high 28 points at Southern Missouri.

The Griffons are fighting for a spot in the MIAA tournament. Only the top eight teams out of 11 in the conference get a spot in the tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Lincoln is 3-11, Truman is 4-11, and Emporia State is 4-10. The last team in will be decided on the court as Western still has Lincoln and Truman on the schedule.

“They hit some big shots, no question,” coach Tom Smith said. “It’s one of those years. I’m sure you get a little snakebite, and when you’re snakebite, people make those plays on you, and they are making the plays while we aren’t making the plays, and that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

The Griffons came out with a sense of urgency and held the Tigers to 8-for-32 shooting in the first half. Western went into the locker room with a 31-21 lead at the half-time break behind 11 first-half points from freshman guard Reed Mells. Western also held the advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Hays 22-14 in the first half.

“We just want to win. We are going to play high-energy defense, focus on finishing plays, and getting other people involved,” Lavonte Douglas said. “That’s our main focus and something we’ve got to do. We have to keep it up both halves.”

Hays guard Moses Dayee hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second-half to get it going for the Tigers.

With the Griffons up 43-36, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run over four minutes to grab their first lead of the game at the 10 minute mark in the second half. Hays extended its lead to 46-43 before Douglas tied the game up with a 3-point-play after making a lay-up and drawing the foul.

Dayee hit another 3-point shot with two minutes left to push the Tigers out to a 57-52 lead. Douglas hit a free-throw to make the score 57-53 before James Harris hit a 3-pointer to get the Griffons to within one point with 45 seconds left.

The next trip down the floor, Dayee hit a 3-point dagger from the left corner that sealed up the 62-58 victory for Hays. Missed free-throws hurt the Griffons down the stretch.

“I think it boils down to the free-throws,” Douglas said. “I shot bad from the line tonight, and that’s something I have to get back in my game. Lately I’ve been out there like Dwight Howard.”

Hays shot 25 percent in the first half and heated up in the second, shooting 56 percent. The Griffons have lost 10 of their last 11 games but are holding teams to under 70 points and showing improvement.

“We just got to find a way to get over the hump, and I think when we do that we will be fine,” Mells said. “We just got to keep playing together. The most frustrating part that it’s just one or two little mistakes that ends up losing it for us.”

Douglas, who led all scorers with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, pulled down six rebounds and stole the ball two times. Mells added 13 points, including 8-for-8 at the foul line and dished out three assists. Harris went for 13 points and five assists.

The Griffons go on a four-game road trip, starting on Feb. 4 at Southern Missouri. Western has two remaining home games, Feb. 22 and 25 against Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist.

The senior forward didn’t abandon the Griffons, and when doubt may have surfaced to do so, she stuck it out.

Koch joined a team that lost its 2006-07 MIAA Championship trophy due to playing illegal players. She is the only that remains that was a part of the team that dealt with the controversy of a new head coach, and what had happened the previous season. The Kansas City native tore her ACL that year, thus granting her a fifth season. She has taken advantage of it.

Her quest to be the greatest Griffon scorer of all time could be the result of her decision to not leave Western. Koch, who has been on the team since the 2007-08 season, is just 131 points away from the all-time leader in points scored. With seven games remaining, the charismatic Koch has remained quiet about the record — either because it quietly happened, or because she cares more about the team.

Koch started the season with just less than 550 points to score in order to receive the record. With a record that averages out to about 19 points per game, it is definitely within reach.

Koch averages 23.2 points per game, which happens to be seven points higher than any other player in the MIAA. She is arguably the player of the year in the conference so far.

Some players that can help Koch achieve this mark include center Brittany Griswold (though she is currently out with a foot injury), guard Alicia Bell and fellow senior Ashleigh Curry. Curry has only played in four games this season, but the speedster currently is the second-scorer on the team since playing and makes shots behind the arc that take away some attention from Koch.

Koch is also helped by playing six 40-minute games this year, and against Southwest Baptist on Jan. 17 she played a 43-minute game.

Whether Koch achieves the feat or not, the final stretch of a glorious career is upon Western. With just two more home games to play at MWSU Fieldhouse, and both at the end of February, Koch may break the record where her career started. And if she happens to come up two points short, she can blame the game clock, as a 60-foot shot dropped in the basket right before halftime Monday night against Fort Hays State, but her hand was on the ball a half-second too long, negating an otherwise improbable 3-pointer.

With 1:36 left on the clock and down 56-55, Western forced guard Will McNeill to shoot a long-distance 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring. McNeill buried the shot and closed the door on the Griffon’s chances for a win.

“When he hit the 3 was the biggest play of the game,” coach Tom Smith said. “We did a great job, we were sound defensively, forced him into taking the bad shot and he hits it. Good players make good plays, and that’s basically what we ran into.”

McNeill scored a game-high 26 points and hit 13-for-16 from the free-throw line. For the Griffons, it was freshman Reed Mells who led the way with a career-high 17 points and hit five 3-pointers. Mells was in the starting line-up for the second straight game with senior guard Deionta Mitchell sidelined with an injury.

“Deionta is a big part of our team, and he’s the heart and sole of the back-court,” Mells said. “When he went down, somebody had to step up and coach Smith called my number, so I didn’t want to disappoint him, my teammates or the Missouri Western family.”

Senior big man Lavonte Douglas scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a shot.

The Griffons two leading scorers on the season are T.J Johnson and James Harris, but Washburn was able to contain both players. Johnson scored nine points on 3-for-5 shooting before fouling out with five minutes to play, while Harris struggled to find his jump shot against the zone defense, going 1-for-10 from the field for four points.  The Griffons were unable to hit the shots in the second half, going 8-for-24, and connected on just 6-for-22 from 3-point distance for the game.

“If our guys were on, it wouldn’t have been a close game,” Douglas said. “They made up and played solid defense for them being off on offense, so I appreciate the effort with everyone staying together.”

The Griffons gave up 18 offensive rebounds to their 11, and were called for 29 fouls compared to Washburn’s 15. The Western fans didn’t like the officiating and a chant of ‘awful’ broke out late in the game.

Western has fallen to 7-12 overall and 2-11 in MIAA conference play after losing nine of it’s last ten games. Smith said that you can be miserable during a losing season, but he’s not because of the collective attitude of the team.

“I’ve had successful teams over my years that I haven’t liked more than this group,” Smtih said. “I feel bad because as a coach I cannot complain ever about what they have given to me every day.”

The Griffons will travel to Bolivar to play Southwest Baptist on Jan. 17. The Bearcats are 10-6 overall and 3-6 in MIAA conference play. After dropping five straight to start league play, Southwest Baptist got things turned around winning four out of it’s last five including quality wins against Fort Hays State and Washburn.

The Bearcats were beat by 23 points against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville the last time out. The Griffons will look to stop the four players that score in double-figures for Southwest Baptist. 5-11 senior guard Ryan Dogherty leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game and is shooting 44% from the field. Guard Preston Guiot is scoring 13.3 points per game while guard Kyle Sloan is scoring 13.2. 6-6 225 Robson Memnon is scoring 11.4 points per game and pulling down 7.4 rebounds while shooting 58% from the field on the season. The Griffons will look to stop Memnon inside with big men Lavonte Douglas and Justin Reid.

On Jan. 21 the Griffons will come back to St. Joseph to play Pittsburg State in the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Gorillas record is 10-6 and 6-4 in conference play.

Western and Pitt. State played in Pittsburg on Nov. 30 and the Gorillas came away for a 77-71 victory in a hard fought game. Pitt State was led by 17 points from JaVon McGee, Drake Green, and Eric Ray. Andra also added 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Griffons had four players in double-figures in the game and the Gorillas defense is giving up the most points in the MIAA at 72 per game. The Griffons will have to keep the Gorillas off of the boards as they were out-rebounded by 20 as a team in the last meeting.

Western scored a season-low 48 points in the last contest at Central Missouri and will need to find some offense. T.J. Johnson leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game, James Harris scores 11.9, and Lavonte Douglas adds 11.6 and seven rebounds.

“I thought defensively we weren’t too bad,” coach Tom Smith said. “You give up 64 points at home and you have a chance to win most games. Northwest did a good job and they are good defensively, but we didn’t shoot it very well.”

James Harris hit a jumper to put the Griffons up 2-0 but the next five minutes was all Bearcats as DeShaun Cooper and Kyle Haake couldn’t miss from deep and put Northwest up 14-2.

“We have to play better defense to start the game off,” guard Reed Mells said. “We just have to hold teams until we can pick it up on the offensive end.”

Mells and Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe came off the bench and each hit a 3-pointer to get some offense going for the Griffons. Western cut into the lead with buckets from big men Lavonte Douglas and Justin Reid before Mells hit another 3-pointer on an assist from T.J. Johnson that cut the Bearcats lead to 23-22. Haake answered with a 3-pointer to give Northwest a 26-22 lead at the half.

Western fell down 32-41 in the second half before consecutive shots from 3-point range by Tuluka-Mfumupembe, Harris, and Johnson cut the Bearcats lead to 41-45. The two teams traded baskets and the score was 50-45 with seven minutes remaining.

Cooper hit five straight points off of consecutive Griffon misses and hit four free-throws in the final minutes to seal the game for Northwest.

“They are much more experienced than we are,” Smith said. “They have five or six kids that have been through the league three years now, and I think that showed tonight.”

The Griffons were unable to stop the scoring of Haake and Cooper who led the Bearcats with 21 and 22 points. The two shot a combined 12-for-19 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point distance.

Tuluka-Mfumupembe led the Griffons in scoring with 12 points, going 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Mells added 10 points including 2-for-3 from 3point range.

The Griffons shot 18-for-53 from the field and were beat on the boards, getting out-rebounded 35-23. The starting five shot a combined 10-for-38 including the three leading scorers Harris, Johnson and Douglas shot a combined 5-for-25 from the field.

“Our key kids have got to step up and play,” Smith said. “We’re not going to be able to survive when they don’t give us more offensive production.”

The Griffons were unable to find offense at the MWSU Fieldhouse over the break, dropping games against Lincoln and Truman State.

“Last year I would have said we are getting exactly what we deserve,” coach Tom Smith said after the loss against Truman State. “This team really isn’t. They work hard and they are good kids that do what I ask them to do. Unfortunately I think we are practicing better and harder than we are playing right now.”

Western fell to 2-10 Lincoln 66-63 on Jan. 7 in the Blue Tigers first ever victory at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

“It’s probably the most disappointing loss that I have had here in 24 years,” Smith said.

The Griffons held an 11 point lead at the halftime break, but saw the lead erased with a 15-5 run in the second half that gave Lincoln its first lead of the game at 51-50 with nine minutes to play.

The teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the game and T.J. Johnson forced a steal and tied the game at 58 with with 1:15 remaining.

James Harris drove into the lane and was called for a questionable call charge that set up the winning possession for Lincoln.

“He was inside the circle definitely, that’s why I pulled up,” Harris said. “It’s real frustrating. They played harder than us for the last ten minutes.”

Lincoln forward James Edmond nailed the game winning 3-point shot from the corner with 2 seconds remaining and then a final attempt from Johnson fell short.

“We got back on our heels and started reacting. When you start reacting, you are going to get beat,” Smith said.

Johnson scored a career-high 23 points and was the only player who scored in double figures against Lincoln.

“We didn’t execute at the end of the game,” Johnson said. “We had a chance to win, we were up 11, we just let up and threw the game away.”

The Griffons dropped another close with an 87-86 overtime loss against 5-11 Truman State on Jan. 14 at MWSU Fieldhouse.

“It’s tough as a team,” said Harris. “I know the coaching staff is frustrated and the players are frustrated. We just have to learn how to execute games at the end in the last five minutes and overtimes.”

Harris hit a 3-point shot that tied the game at the end of regulation after the Griffons overcame a seven-point Truman lead with six minutes to play.

Western got out to a four-point-lead to start overtime but Truman went on an 8-0 run to make it a 85-81 game with 20 seconds left.

Harris hit another basket from deep to cut the lead to one, but there wasn’t enough time remaining as Truman went to the line and missed the free throws and time expired.

Johnson led the Griffons in scoring with 22 and added 10 rebounds while Harris scored 21. Lavonte Douglas added 19 points and eight rebounds.

Western extended its losing streak to six games after being defeated by Central Missouri 64-48 on Jan. 14 in Warrensburg. The Griffons will try and get back to winning on Jan. 17 when it travels to Bolivar to play Southwest Baptist.

“You need to protect your home court,” coach Tom Smith said. “I think that’s the thing that hurts us the most about this game,”

With 22 seconds remaining, the Hornets took a 58-57 lead on a 3 pointer by Chris Sights that put them ahead for the first time since two minutes into the second half.

“Every game that we are going to be in is going to be close and tough,” Dylan Frantz said. “We have 18 games to go and we can only get better.”

Lavonte Douglas missed on a layup attempt in the final seconds of the game after coach Tom Smith took a timeout to draw up a final play and the Griffons were forced to foul.

The Hornets made 1-of-2 from the stripe to push the lead to two with two seconds left. The Griffons were forced to throw a full court pass that was tipped out of bounds off of Emporia leaving only .7 seconds left on the clock. Frantz in-bounded the ball to James Harris, who was forced to throw up prayer from three point land that bounced off the rim.

“We couldn’t have got a better possession,” Smith said. “We just didn’t convert and that’s the difference between winners and losers. This is a tough loss for us.”

Despite shooting only 9-for-28 from the field and 5-13 from three point range in the first half, the Griffons only found themselves down by a point at the break. The shooting for Western improved in the second half as they shot 11-for-25 and 3-for-4 from 3 point distance.

“This team is struggling offensively,” Smith said. “I think our defense held us in there.”

Harris was the Griffons leading scorer with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting and 3-for-6 from down town and had three assists.

Justin Reid had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and also showed his defensive presence by blocked four shots.

Douglas went for 11 points and also grabbed six rebounds and had three assists.

Freshman Reed Mells contributed off the bench with three 3′s for nine points in 17 minutes of playing time.

The Hornets held an edge in the paint, outscoring the Griffons 30-14 down low.

“We have to get tougher about things,” Smith said. “We are missing too many shots inside. There were three times where we had point blank shots and came out with nothing and that hurts you when that happens.”

Western shot 9-17 at the free throw line including three misses in the last two minutes of the game.

“We just got to finish,” Harris said. “We have to make free throws. Free throws win games and that’s what it is.”

The Griffons were without senior T.J. Johnson who was out with a high ankle sprain. Johnson is averaging 13.4 points per game on the season.

“He’s a real big key,” Harris said. “We are missing him on floor but we can’t look for an excuse.”

The Griffons will play host to No. 1 Missouri Southern on Dec. 7 at the MWSU field house. Southern is 9-0 on the season and 2-0 in MIAA play. The Griffons will have to find a way to match up with the size of the Lions who are led by Keane Thomann, a 6’11”, 270 pound senior who is averaging 22.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per-game and shooting 73 percent from the field. Keane is coming off a career high of 32 points. Athletic swing-man Jason Adams is averaging 21.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. 6’5” sophomore Jordan Talbert is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds for the Lions. Southern is ranked No. 1 for the first time since the school turned Division II in 1989.

On Dec. 10 the Griffons will travel to Hays, Kan., to take on No. 10 ranked Fort Hays State University. The Tigers have a 7-0 record, are 1-0 in conference play and are led by a trio of guards. 6’3” Karron McKenzie leads the team in scoring at 16.3 points-per-game and also is pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game. 6’1” Tyrone Phillip is getting 14.4 points-per-game, and speedy 5’8” Kendrick Morse is getting 11.3 points per game. Big man 6’7” Matt Simmons leads the Tigers in rebounds with 11.3 per game on the season. Hays defeated Lincoln 78-65 in it’s first MIAA game.

On Dec. 17 Western will travel to Topeka, Kan., to take on the Washburn Ichabods. Washburn has a 5-3 record on the season and 0-1 in conference play, dropping its last game to Northwest Missouri State University 65-59. The Ichabods are led in scoring by Will McNeil at 16.5 points-per-game. 6’1” McNeil also grabs six rebounds per game from the guard position. Guard Martin Mitchell is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points-per-game.

The Griffons are led in scoring by T.J. Johnson and Lavonte Douglas, both at 13.4 points per game. Douglas also pulls down 6.8 rebounds per game while Justin Reid leads the team in boards at 7.5 per game. James Harris is getting 12.9 points per game for Western in his first season after transferring from South Suburban JUCO. Western is averaging 67.9 points-per-game on the season.

“We knew what we had to do tonight, and they came out and did it, so it was enjoyable,” coach Tom Smith said. “Tonight we showed we can win.”

The Griffons improve to 6-3 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA play while Southern falls to 9-1 and 2-1 in conference play.

Western connected on 11-14 from 3 point territory and took control from the very beginning. The only lead Southern held was 2-0 and it was quickly erased as the Griffons got out to a 7-2 lead after James Harris hit a 3. The Griffons have struggled at the beginning of games at times this season, but there was no lack of intensity right from the start tonight.

“You got the number one team in the country coming in, so you got to be fired up about that game,” Deionta Mitchell said. “All day the team has been fired up.”

Harris lead all scorers with 26 points and added seven assists and four rebounds. Harris hit 5-for-6 from down town.

“It was just my night really,” Harris said. “They kept coming to me, and I was knocking the shots down.”

Deionta Mitchell matched his career high of 14 points by shooting 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from long range, including two 3s in a row when it appeared Southern was ready to make a run, down 41-31. Mitchell pushed the Griffon lead up to 47-31.

“Tonight was probably the biggest win I have ever been a part of,” Mitchell said. “Coach let us know tonight if we played as hard as we could for 40 minutes we were going to win.”

Freshman Reed Mells shot 3-for-4, including 2-for-3 from 3 point distance. Mells went for a career high 10 points after scoring nine against Emporia State University last game.

Lavonte Douglas added nine points and six rebounds while Justin Reid showed off his hook shot, scoring six points. Those two, combined with Shawn Tarver, provided tough interior defense.

Southern leading scorer, 6-11 270 pound Keane Thomann, finished with 22 points but didn’t get his first points until he hit two free throws with the Griffon lead already at 21-6.

“He got himself going late,” Smith said. “He just wears at you is the problem you have with him because he is so strong and so big.”

Western utilized team defense in holding Southern to 28-for-67 shooting.

“It’s a family piece,” Harris said. “We are pushing to be one of the best defensive teams in the conference.”

The Griffons will look to knock off another ranked team on Saturday when they travel to Hays, Kan., to face No. 10 Fort Hays State.

“I’m really happy with tonight,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought this team was way more physical than William Jewell, and I was concerned about that toughness with us, and I think we weathered their toughness and pulled away late.”

The Griffons fell behind 12-4 after Rockhurst was hot to start the game. After Smith called a timeout, James Harris hit a deep 3-point shot to put the score at 12-7 and help give Western the momentum to get back in the game.

“They were physical in the beginning,” Harris said. “We kind of came out shaky, so we had to come together as a family and just ‘d’ up as a team.”

The Griffons were down 20-15 with 11 minutes to play in the first half when T.J. Johnson made the layup and got fouled on two consecutive trips down the court. Johnson converted both free throws, and Western took their first lead of the game at 21-20.

“We play physical everyday,” Johnson said. “Coach doesn’t call fouls because he knows we will come out here and get roughed up, so we just play through it.”

Rockhurst held a 33-31 lead at the halftime break after its bench outscored the Western bench 16-5 in the first frame.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the second half until a pair of Johnson free throws and a 3 point play by Lavonte Douglas put the Griffons on top 57-52. James Harris hit six free throws in the final minute of the game to seal the ten point victory for Western.

“We protected our home court, played hard on defense and we found our offense tonight,” Johnson said.

Johnson scored 22 points on 6-for-12 from the field and 9-for-11 from the free throw line. He also added five rebounds and four assists.

Harris scored 22 points on 6-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from the free throw line. Harris added six rebounds and dished out four assists. Harris had been unable to get hot from deep in the first three games but broke that trend against the Hawks.

“They were in a zone, so we just had to spot up move the ball quickly and penetrate the gaps and that got us open shots,” said Harris. “Good shooters never stop shooting; Coach just tells me to keep shooting and flick my wrist. I couldn’t get down on myself, just had to keep shooting.”

Shawn Tarver was cleaning the glass all night long, leading the Griffons with 12 rebounds.

The Griffons play their next game in San Antonio, Texas at the Red River Shootout. Western will take on Southeastern Oklahoma State Friday and St. Mary’s Saturday.

T.J. Johnson stepped up in crunch time, scoring the Griffons’ final nine points in the last three minutes of the game.

“I just knew at the end of the game we needed somebody to step up,” Johnson said. “I felt like I’m the leader of the team, captain of the team. I had to step up and make plays.”

Johnson tied the game at 59 with a three point shot and then hit a jumper to put the Griffons up by two with two minutes remaining. Johnson then hit a pair of free throws to give Western a 63-59 lead.

William Jewell guard Chris Uz hit a three to make it 63-62 with a minute remaining. With 20 seconds to play, Johnson threw down a dunk on the rebound off a missed jumper from Lavonte Douglas to put the Griffons up 65-62.

Mark Mason scored with 15 seconds to play and got fouled. He missed the free throw, and William Jewell got the rebound and called a timeout with 14 seconds to play, down by one point. The Griffon defense forced Mason to miss two jumpers as time expired.

“One of the things we talked about is you have to learn how to win,” coach Tom Smith said. “You have to learn to do the right things down the stretch, and one of things I thought we did do was really ratcheted up our defense and really played tough defense on them the last three or four possessions.”

The Griffons started off slow, falling behind 7-0, then Douglas got going. Douglas scored the Griffons’ first seven points of the game to get them back in it early.

“I had to show up and be the leader,” Douglas said.

The Griffons went into the halftime break down 31-30 and didn’t hold a lead until the 14:43 mark in the second half when James Harris hit a three to take a 40-39 lead.

Johnson led the Griffons in scoring with 18 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Douglas added 16 points and seven rebounds. Harris added 12 points and three assists and big man Shawn Tarver scored eight.

“We all feel good about everybody contributing and getting everybody in as a team,” Douglas said. “Nobody gets left out so that’s always good.”

Nick Larson was the biggest threat for William Jewell and was the main reason for the Cardinals outscoring the Griffons 34-20 in the paint. Larson finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds.

“He’s a really good player,” Smith said. “Hes smart, great hands and obviously good touch around the basket.”

The Griffons take on Rockhurst at 8 p.m. Sunday at the MWSU Fieldhouse in their final game of the Hillyard Classic.

Friday the Griffons (2-0) play William Jewell College (1-0). William Jewell features NAIA All-American Nick Larson, who is a 6’6”, 265 pound center. The Griffons will rely on the size of Justin Reid and Levonte Douglas to keep Larson contained in the post. The Cardinals also feature all-conference guards Chris Uz and Mark Mason. William Jewel defeated Central Methodist 75-65 in its first game. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday the Griffons play Rockhurst, which starts its season off against Northwest Missouri State on Friday at the MWSU Field House. They feature 5’11”, 175 pound point guard Najja Nicholson. He averaged 12 points-per-game on an 8-19 squad last season. 6-2 guard Brandon McCann is the other returner who averaged double figures with 10 points-per-game. The contest will take place at 8 p.m.

Western went 1-1 at last season’s Hillyard Classic. The Griffons beat Avila 95-85 in the first game and then lost to Michigan Tech 68-61. It was the fifth loss in 38 games, bringing the Griffons overall record to 33-5 in the classic.

“We played better than we did the other night, actually,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought they played better in terms of being sounder defensively.”

The Griffons failed to get off to a hot start early and found themselves trailing their Division III opponent 23-17 with 8:30 left in the first half.

James Harris tied the game at 25 with a transition layup, and the Griffons went on a 22-6 run in the last six minutes of the first half. The score was 47-31 at the break.

The Griffons blocked shots, forced turnovers and turned their good defense into transition offense in the second half. Manhattan Christian didn’t score its first two points of the second half until five minutes in, and the Griffons were already in control of the game, leading 56-35.

“That’s something we had in our mind coming into the season,” Levonte Douglas said. “That’s something we really want everyone to focus on, is defense this year.”

T.J. Johnson led all scorers with 22 points and he grabbed 7 rebounds. Johnson shot 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. After missing three shots early in the game, he found his jumper and showed his outside game and his ability to get to the basket.

“I think I came in tonight, and I settled down,” said Johnson. “I kept shooting. Like coach always says, good shooters keep shooting, so I just was trying to find a way to put it in the bucket.”

Coming off a double-double, Levonte Douglas was effective in the paint for a second straight game, converting 6-8 from the field. Douglas scored 16 points and pulled down 7 rebounds.

“Lavonte plays hard,” Smith said. “Most post guys can’t play at that level and be as tough as he can be.”

Douglas knows that his regular D-II competition will be tougher than what he has seen in his first two games of the season, but is confident he can continue his strong play.

“That’s for everybody,” Douglas said. “Any team that steps on this floor is getting that.”

Harris added 12 points, three assists and two steals. All 13 Griffons saw playing time in the blowout win, and all but one player scored.

Freshman Freddie Manwayu showed potential to be a defensive asset with his athleticism going forward. Manwayu blocked four shots in his ten minutes of playing time.

An area where the Griffons struggled was shooting from behind the three point line. They went 5-21 from distance against the Crusaders.

“I think we are all trying to find ourselves a little bit. Our outside shooting is awful right now,” Smith said. “We scored 87 points because of the transition off our defense.”

The Griffons out-rebounded Manhattan Christian 48-35 and won the turnover battle 25-12. Western outscored Manhattan Christian 50-16 in the paint and shot 47.9% from the field, and the Griffons’ bench provided 37 points.

“In basketball you always got room for improvement,” Johnson said. “We played these two teams, we got two wins under our belt. Now we got two well coached teams ahead, so we got to come out and play with intensity from the get-go. If we come out like that against D-II teams, it will be a long way to get back up, so we just got to keep playing, come out hard and get ready for Friday and Saturday.”

The Griffons will play in the 20th annual Hillyard Tip-off Classic at the MWSU Field House on Friday against William Jewel College, and Saturday they will take on Rockhurst University. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

Griffon Basketball Coach Tom Smith goes down in history as one of the 61 coaches in the U.S. to achieve 600 wins in college basketball history.

Smith is one of only 61 coaches in the history of college basketball to record 600 wins. There are only 20 other active coaches who have recorded as many wins.

“It means more than any other milestone because it puts you in a unique group,” Smith said, “a unique group of people that can survive long enough to get that many wins. To have 600 wins is an accomplishment and a milestone that I think is pretty nice.”

The Griffons started off slow, and Fontbonne had a 34-29 lead at half-time.

“You could see almost from the beginning that they were nervous,” Smith said. “I think they were just so jacked to do this.”

The lone bright spot in the first half for Western was the play of guard Dylan Frantz, who shot 5-of-6 in the first half, including 3-of-3 from behind the three point line. The rest of the team combined to shoot 6-26 from the field in the first half.

“We just wanted to get the win so bad, and it kind of hurt us in the beginning,” Frantz said. “My shots were falling, so I just needed to do whatever I could to help the team stay in this game.”

The Griffons battled back and took a 41-40 lead on a Levonte Douglas layup and never looked back. Douglas sparked the momentum for the Griffons when he blocked a shot out of bounds the possession before.

“The team was slacking, so me being a senior and a leader, I had to set the tone,” Douglas said “My adrenaline is still rushing right now.”

Douglas finished with a double-double – 13 points and 10 rebounds — he scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in the second half.

“I thought he got us going and gave us something inside,” Smith said. “He really played hard.”

The Griffons outscored Fontbonne 41-20 while shooting 50percent from the field in the second half.

James Harris didn’t have one of his better shooting days, but still led the Griffons in scoring with 17 points Harris shot 5-for-14 from the field and made 7-for-10 from the free throw line. He came away with four steals on defense.

Frantz finished with 15 points and T.J. Johnson added eight points, including a big dunk at the very end that set the MWSU Fieldhouse into the celebration for coach Smith.

Many of Smith’s ex-players were in attendance and came out onto the floor to congratulate him when the game was over.

“I was just shocked. I didn’t realize they were here,” Smith said. “They just kept coming and coming. Each guy reminded me of another game. It was wonderful.”

Even though Smith nearly got the win last year against Fort Hays in the MIAA tournament, he is happy that he reached the milestone with this group of players.

“The group last year didn’t deserve to celebrate this like the group this year did,” Smith said. “I know we didn’t play great tonight, but the effort they have given me up until now has been good.”

Frantz, who transferred from Hutchinson Community College, described helping Smith reach the milestone in his first game at Western as an amazing experience.

“I’ve never been a part of something like this,” Frantz said. “It’s really awesome, and I’m just proud we could do it for coach Smith. I’m honored.”

“I thought our defense was pretty decent,” coach Tom Smith said. “I thought they played together, our passing at times was very sharp; for the most part I was pleased.”

The Griffons have focused their efforts on becoming a solid defensive team, and it showed Thursday as they forced 25 turnovers and held Livin’ The Dream to 63 points on 19-for-45 shooting from the field.

“We are way better defensively right now than we ever were last year,” Smith said. “If that continues to get better, we have a chance at being a decent defensive team.”

TJ Johnson led all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. He made two three-pointers and showed his leaping ability with some big dunks.

“That’s what I like to do,” Johnson said. “I like getting the crowd involved. If my teammate throws it up, I’m going to go get it.”

Deionta Mitchell scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting in 20 minutes. He also contributed three assists and a steal. His long range game was on display as he went 2-for-3 from three point distance.

“Last year I really didn’t shoot the ball that well,” Mitchell said. “That was a goal of mine this summer, so I just stayed in the gym a lot getting shots up. Tonight my teammates found me and got me open shots.”

James Harris scored 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting and dished out four assists. He had his hand wrapped up, and Smith said that he had only practiced two times before the game due to the injury of his left hand.

“Harris getting healthy has made a difference,” Smith said. “He’s probably our actual starting point guard.”

Dylan Frantz scored 14 points and handed out four assists.

“You have to love Dylan Frantz because he is a kid that just gives you a 100 percent every time,” Smith said.

Shawn Tarver scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The 6’8” big man had his mid-range jumpshot on display.

“This team will have to depend on playing together,” Smith said. “I think that they shared the ball well, and I think they had fun doing it. That’s the biggest thing.”

Western women win 96-52

The Griffon women had their talents on display also, as they defeated Livin’ The Dream 96-52.

Jessica Koch led all scorers with 30 points. Koch, a second team all-MIAA selection and the Griffons’ leading scorer from last season at 16.6 points per game, also pulled down 11 rebounds and had seven assists.

Brittany Griswold scored 12 points, Brittany Casady had 11 and Caitlin Linihan scored 10. The women finished with a team total of 27 assists, 52 rebounds and shot 46.6 percent from the field.

Ashleigh Curry, who used to play for Livin’ the Dream, did not participate in the scrimmage. Coach Lynn Plett does not know when she will return to the team, but hopes for a return for Saturday’s opener against Quincy.

Coach Smith has been coaching basketball for over 20 years. He first began coaching at the University of Central Missouri in 1975. This year, coach Smith will hopefully be winning his 600th win on this Saturday, Nov. 12th.

Trophies lie around the school, longing for a place to sit.

The gym is completely dark and the floor is distorted. It has been empty for years, but decades ago, the gym was packed.

Horace Mann High School, which has since been boarded up, still stands on Garfield Street in Gary, Ind., just south of Jefferson Park.

Famous people that once called Gary home include the vocal group Jackson Five, former middleweight champion Tony Zale, Heisman winner Tommy Harmon, 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle and former NBA player Glenn Robinson. Although the accolades don’t come off as great for a Division II coach, among the names that top the list of former Horace Mann attendees and Gary residents is Missouri Western Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Smith.

Smith played his high school basketball career at Horace Mann, where he received Honorable Mention All State honors. His basketball journey didn’t run parallel to his high school. It didn’t die and wasn’t buried into a ghost town legend; Smith prospered. He went to Valparaiso and was an All-American. He loved that school so much, he would even coach there for eight seasons after he graduated. To this day, Smith remembers his time in Indiana.

“I went to a grade school, and all my friends played on the football team,” Smith said.

He didn’t follow his friends, and decided to join a basketball team. Gary was one of the few cities where blacks and whites could play on the same team. So after high school, Smith could have found himself taking part in history.

“[Don Haskin's] link to Gary was my high school coach,” Smith said. “I remember him trying to talk me into going to Texas Western. But he was actually trying to get Haskins to recruit the others guys and take me. So I ended up going to Valparaiso.”

Those other guys Smith was talking about included Orsten Arnis and Harry Flournoy, two key players on the Texas Western’s Men’s 1966 basketball team, a team that won the NCAA National Championship by starting five black players for the first time.

Smith went to Valparaiso and started at point guard. He took them to the conference tournament in 1984 as the coach. It was the Crusaders’ first appearance in the tournament in the program’s history. Shortly after his stint with the program ended, Smith was hired as the men’s head basketball coach at Missouri Western. That’s when history hit full effect.

Inaugurate start of a real Leader

Western made the NCAA Tournament and won its first NCAA tournament game, defeating West Texas State 73-71, in Smith’s second season at the helm. Though they fell in the next round, the Griffons team remains in Smith’s memory.

“That team was pretty good,” said Smith, whose season ended to Southeast Missouri State. “In those days, the number one team didn’t host. You had to bid for it. So Southeast, whose place holds 7,000, they got the regional.”

On their way to the tournament, the Griffons defeated Central Missouri in the MIAA Championship game. A three point victory over a team that Smith once coached gave Western its first championship in its first year in the conference. Smith received Coach-of-the-Year in the MIAA as well as Division II Coach-of-the-Year in the South Central Region.

The 1989 basketball team was inducted into the Missouri Western Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame this past October. And although Smith said he didn’t have much to do with his team at the time, players on the team disagree and said the coach gave the team spirit. Known as a motivator, former guard Heath Dudley said during the season that is exactly what Smith gave them.

“He did not give himself enough credit for getting the coach-of-the-year award,” Dudley said. “He always told us not to give up and to keep playing our best.”

Smith was never wanted by people in St. Joseph. The week he was hired, the local news reported that Western had hired a losing coach, given his losing record. The school newspaper even published a letter stating why Smith was a bad decision. He shrugged the comments off and just coached. 429 wins later, he remains a Griffon.

A true golden Griff

Smith said that the 1988 and the 1989 teams were two of the most enjoyable years as a coach. Throughout the next 20 years, Smith’s coaching style affected his team to the point where he would be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Among his achievements, Smith won the MIAA regular season title five times. He has been named the MIAA Coach-of-the-Year twice and has coached All-Americans Mike Cornelious and Darrol Wright.

“[1988 team] was the one I inherited,” Smith said. “We were NAIA with that team that preceded the hall-of-fame team. We were fortunate. We didn’t have time to recruit anybody.”

With the team that he hardly knew, he was one win away from going to the post-season tournament. Only five guys remained on the team the next season, but the teams stay close together. After the Hall-of-Fame ceremony, Smith said both teams went to his house to celebrate that night. Those teams, along with a great run in the early 200os, helped Smith reach his win total.

When he first arrived at Western, he never dreamed of winning 600 games. Coming from a school that had to drive hundreds of miles to each game a night, Smith never felt much respect at Valparaiso. It once played a game against Notre Dame at home, where the scoreboard read Home vs. Notre Dame.

“I interviewed for the job, and I knew it wasn’t a good job, but I took it,” Smith said. “We all think we’re great. We all think, ‘the guy before me couldn’t win, but I can’.”

Now though — with 600 within one game — he feels the love.

“I came here because I wanted my gun loaded equally with the guy I’m shooting against,” Smith said. “My gun wasn’t loaded at Valpo. It wasn’t fair.”

You can’t keep a Griffon down

The 67-year-old coach has never been fired. He said he left Central to take a chance at Division I, and not that he regrets it, but he knew that after a few years it wasn’t the smartest decision. When he went to the NCAA Final Four in Kansas City, Mo., he found out about the Western job, and although a late candidate, Smith was hired.

He is tied at No. 61 in overall wins in NCAA Men’s Basketball. He is ranked No. 19 for active coaches. Still, the man once thought that he couldn’t handle any pressure in coaching says it’s not him, it’s his team.

The Gary native recently attended his 45th college reunion. Smith went to Gary on his way through Indiana, and said it changed a lot since he was little.

“It’s unbelievable. I told Marcus [Rhodes] I used to walk to the Palace Theatre. He said ‘you ain’t walking there now’.”

Now that he is out of Gary and in St. Joseph, Smith’s 24th season as head coach is about to tip off. He doesn’t seem tired. He isn’t going to calm down and take it easy. The coach just wants to watch his team perform. In doing so, more wins and achievements look destined for the man in charge. He is more laid back, however. His attitude this season with his first three-freshman class and returning seniors like All-MIAA selection TJ Johnson, should help. Johnson said he is ready for this season to celebrate the 600th win and play some basketball.

“Coach gives us the freedom to just play,” Johnson said. “We need to use our athleticism to get  to the basket and get everyone involved.”

Smith agrees, and says although it may not be his most talented team, they definitely have chemistry and makes it fun to come to work.

“Great teams beat great guys every time.”

A guy whose basketball career looked like it was over when he played his final game against Phil Jackson, 11-time NBA champion as a coach, at North Dakota when the Crusaders played North Dakota, is still is around the game. Smith decided to take it to the next level: coaching. 600 wins later, he is still the same guy.

Coach Chad Edwards took over a team that had just six days to prepare for its first match in August.

After a full two months of engagement soccer, the season wrapped up over Halloween weekend.

Western finished with a 4-10 record, doubling its win total from a season ago. Though the team missed out on another MIAA tournament appearance, and placed last in the division, the Griffons battled through adversity with so many freshman playing and a new coach. Throughout the first 10 games, the Griffons saw a 3-7 record, where at the half they were either tied or in the lead in every game.

Edwards believes with recruiting well by adding forwards, his team will be in better shape for a post-season run next year. He also said this season will help out the future.

“I’m really proud of the way they competed,” Edwards said. “We got the culture established. I got what I’m trying to accomplish established.”

Among the seniors that played their last game in a Griffon uniform is Audrey Henderson. She leaves the program as the all-time leader in goals made with nine.

“I want to thank the four seniors especially,” Edwards said. “I’m really proud of the way they handled [this season].”

Volleyball entering final push

Coach Cory Frederick said he believes his team is playing the best volleyball they played all season.

Two straight losses could contradict that, but he said that didn’t exactly matter.

Western dropped three sets to undefeated Washburn last Saturday, one day after losing a 3-2 split set game to Emporia State. The two losses didn’t do anything to the Griffons in the conference, as they are still slated at fifth place with a 5-7 MIAA record and 12-13 overall.

“We struggled a bit last week,” Frederick said, “but we’re playing some good volleyball. Win five out of six is our goal.”

Frederick pointed to freshman Amanda Boender, who hit .667 and added 10 kills Friday nights against Emporia, as somebody who might step in and help the team over the next two weeks.

Basketball tip-off

Thursday night, both basketball teams will scrimmage for the first time at the Looney Complex, at least the first time against an opponent.

Livin’ the Dream, a pro-am basketball team out of Kansas City, Mo., will bring their talents to Western to play the Griffons.

The women’s team will tip off at 5:30 p.m. followed shortly by the men, who are scheduled to play around 7 p.m.

Tom Smith, who is one win shy of 600 total for his coaching career, is excited to see his team at home in this exhibition game.

“I’ve never had any group work harder than this group has worked,” Smith said. “I have three freshman for the first time. I can’t wait till they’re juniors. Hopefully I’m here when they’re juniors,” said Smith, who not only joked about that, but also about how he hopes to survive a sixth athletic director.

“I think we have better character this year, our work ethic is better, our willingness to play together has been better,” coach Tom Smith said.

Key losses for Missouri Western include last year’s two leading scorers, Jonathan Phelps at 17.4 points per game and P’Allen Stinnett at 16.7. Another loss is point guard Adrian Thomas.

The Griffons return two starters from last season’s team in senior post player, Lavonte Douglas and senior small forward, TJ Johnson.

Johnson averaged 12.8 points-per-game last season, while shooting a very efficient 50.8 percent from the field and starting in all 28 contests.

“TJ is the type of player that has an all-around game,” said Smith. “Making players better, passing, driving, rebounding, running, all those things.”

The last shot Johnson took last season was a missed jumper in the MIAA tournament against Fort Hays State with no time left on the clock. The Griffons lost by one point, and their season was over.  Johnson used that experience as added motivation during the off-season.

“Ever since I missed the game-winning shot last year, I have been in the gym every day,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait until the season starts. If I get that chance again, the shot is definitely going down.”

Douglas averaged 12.3 points-per-game and six rebounds last season and is known as someone who will outwork the opponent in the post.

“Lavonte is tough enough inside to give a us a post presence,” Smith said. “He is 6’5” but plays bigger.”

Speedy senior combo guard Deionta Mitchell is the other returning contributor from last season’s team and will play the role of a starter this season. According to Smith, Mitchell can play either guard position, but his comfort zone is off the ball.

Smith has added six junior college transfers in guards Ladarius Frazier, James Harris, Dylan Frantz, Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe, and big men Shawn Tarver and Justin Reid.

Harris was a JUCO All-American at South Suburban Junior College last season, averaging 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals per game. He will look to take over the starting point guard position once he heals from a fractured hand that will keep him sidelined approximately ten days. Frazier will also play his minutes at the point guard position.

Tarver and Reid, both 6’8”, will add a post presence to go along with Douglas that the Griffons were missing last season, due to losing several players during the season.

“We have an inside threat that I think will make up for what we didn’t have last year,” Smith said. “We did not have that capability of going inside very much last year.”

There are also three true freshman perimeter players on the team. 5’11″ point guard Reed Mells from Des Moines, 6’3″ guard/forward Freddie Manyawu from Platte City and 6’5″ guard/forward Tevin Harris from the Chicago area.  Mells is currently out with mononucleosis and is expected to return a few weeks down the road when he regains full strength.

“Making the move from 1A  in Iowa to the MIAA is a tough move but Reed has done well,” Smith said.  “Tevin is very athletic and Freddie is athletic and very very smart.  I think all three will contribute this season.”

The Griffons may not be picked to finish at the top of the MIAA when the preseason poll is released, but the players are confident that they will have a successful season.

“I expect us to surprise a lot of people because a lot of people aren’t expecting a lot from us because of last year and how we had a bad season,” Johnson said. “But we are planning to turn that around. We got a lot of leaders here. We got new guys who came in and everyone works hard. It’s going to be a team effort.”

“I expect us to do way better than we did last year,” Douglas said. “Every one is playing together now, and I just hope it stays like that for the rest of the season. I expect a 20 plus win season and being one of the top teams in the conference.”

The Griffons will look to slow down the tempo of the game on offense this season and use ball movement to take the smart shot.

“I see us being very conservative offensively because I just don’t think we have the firepower to get in any kind of shootouts,” Smith said. “Our emphasis will be on defense and ball control.”

According to Douglas, the biggest strength of the team is playing together.

“Playing individually would be our biggest weakness,” Douglas said. “Everybody plays their role, plays their position. We don’t have any heroes or wannabe superstars. Everybody just plays together and makes it work.”

Deionta Mitchell hangs on the rim during Tuesday night's scrimmage at the annual tip-off party.

His palms are sweating and his heart is pounding, but after a quick breath, he is ready to be put in the game. Though the opposing team is full of 6-foot-7-inch monsters giggling as he steps foot on the court, he is not worried. Suddenly, this guard magically steals the ball, speeds through the monsters and scores before the big men can even make it down the court. “Who’s giggling now?” the guard thinks as he smiles to himself.

This guard is none other than senior Deionta Mitchell. Mitchell first came to Missouri Western last year as a junior with potential to be better, due to his speed, athleticism and solid work ethic. Since then, Mitchell has grown more and more into his potential and now stands as the go-to guard for the upcoming season.

“My favorite part of the game is that it teaches you about life and how to deal with adversity,” Mitchell said. “It teaches you toughness and dedication. To be a consistent shooter, you have to stay in the gym and work on your strength.”

Mitchell feels that among his physical abilities, he brings a good heart and a positive attitude to the team, which he feels is just as important.

“For a lot of people, when you’re up by 20 points, it’s easy to high-five and laugh and talk on the bench with each other,” Mitchell said. “But when you’re down ten points with about ten minutes left, that’s when you really see who has heart and who doesn’t, and who wants to step up to the plate.”

Though Mitchell has been noted for his speed and athleticism, he sometimes believes that people underestimate him because of his size. In addition to this, the Milwaukee native stays to himself and sometimes shies away from the media’s eye.

“The roster has me listed as 5’10, but I am a legit 5’7,” Mitchell said. “When they see a little guy like me, right away they are thinking that I am not really that good. To those people I say ‘Just watch me play, and you will really like it’,” Mitchell said with a slight smile.

Off the court, Mitchell has a very close relationship with his mother, that truly encourages and motivates him.

“I’m a momma’s boy,” Mitchell said. “I talk to her before every game. As long as I talk to her before every game, I’ll be alright.”

Before the season gets underway, Mitchell has already predicted that the men will have a better record then last year. Among three seniors, head basketball coach Tom Smith recruited six other juniors coming in from junior colleges. Smith also recruited some “big men,” with two 6-foot-8-inch juniors to fill the gap left after former player Brandon Beck graduated last year. Of these big players, Mitchell is very impressed by forward Justin Reid, who is a 250-pound Indiana native coming from Kankakee Community College.

“Whenever Justin gets the ball, it’s either a bucket or a foul,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell also feels team chemistry will be more effective this year, as the three seniors have worked hard to keep their relationships solid and initiate brotherly love.

Fellow senior and roommate TJ Johnson feels that he, Mitchell and Lavonte Douglas have grown very close within the last year and want the other teammates to follow their footsteps.

“When I drive to the hole and need to kick it out to somebody for the three, he’s got me,” Johnson said. “He has my back and I have his back, both one and off the court.”

The lead wouldn’t last long, though. The crowd got behind the Griffons and helped them to take the lead at 9-6 early in the first half.

“The crowd’s energy was everything tonight,” senior Marcus Jones said. “If we had been on the road I don’t know that the outcome would have been the same.”

Brandon Beck dunks the ball after a fast break during Western’s game against the Southwest Baptist Bearcats. The Griffons won 86-72. Photo | Dave Hon

Southwest Baptist came out in the second half and quickly started to chip away at the Griffons lead and with just over three minutes into the second half, the lead had evaporated to just a single point.

Western quickly grabbed the momentum back when Brandon Beck stole a pass at half court and outran his defender down the court to throw down a dunk that brought the crowd to their feet. From that point forward, the Griffons wouldn’t give up the lead the rest of the game.

SBU played the statistics late in the first half as they started fouling the Griffon ball handlers in the backcourt with four minutes remaining in the game. Coming into the game the Griffons were only shooting 59 percent from the foul line as a team and were forced to try and win the game from the charity stripe.

Western would go on to hit 20 of 27 free throw attempts in the game and ice the game late in the second half.

“For a team shooting 59 percent from the free throw line, I was very happy with how well we closed out the game from the line,” head coach Tom Smith said.

Western will turn around and play the Bearcats again in the first round of the MIAA tournament and will look to do many things the same to get a first round win against SBU.

“We knew this was going to be a big game for seeding in the tournament and we want to wear the white jerseys against them when we play them again,” Martin Nolan said.

Western will be the fourth seed and Southwest Baptist will be the fifth seed when they meet in the first round of the tournament.

Western finishes the regular season 17-10 overall and 12-8 in the MIAA. They will play in a rematch with Southwest Baptist in the first round of the MIAA tournament March 5 at 2:15 p.m.

Western took an early 6-0 lead in the game, but the Maverick’s Jeff Martin helped erase the lead as he hit three 3 point shots to score nine of the Mav’s first 12 points.

“We took that early punch from them and didn’t really get back to playing Griffon basketball after that,” said senior guard Marcus Rhodes.

Photo by MArty Ayers

At the 13:46 mark in the second half, James Bush was whistled for a technical foul and the Mavericks capitalized by hitting the two foul shots as well as hitting a three from the wing to cap off a 12-2 run by UNO.

Western would not go down without a fight, though. Midway through the second half, the Griffons went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 12, but that is as far as they would get.

The Griffons committed 15 turnovers in the game compared to Nebraska-Omaha’s seven. The Mavericks also shot 55 percent from three point range and over 50 percent from the field. The Griffons struggled from beyond the arc as well as from the field. Western finished just 7-22 from three point range.

The Griffons fall to 14-9 on the season and 9-7 in the MIAA.

“This game was pretty much a must win for us, now we need to come out and take care of business these last four games,” said senior forward Quentin Noblin.

Coming into the game the Mavericks and Griffons were ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the region. With the loss, the Griffons have their work cut out for them to earn a bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.

“We will have to come back and win at least three of our last four or else we are going to be out,” Coach Tom Smith said.
Western will have to bounce back at Truman State on Saturday, Feb. 20, in Kirksville, Mo.

It was a tale of two halves for Western. In the first half, shots were dropping from long range as they finished the half six of nine from behind the three point arc and also helped them to a 36-39 lead at halftime.

However, in the second half, the Griffons could not hit their three point shots and struggled from the foul line. Going just 1 of 10 on three point shots and 4 of 11 from the free throw line, the Griffons were not able to hold onto the lead and battled for much of the second half to stay close with the Lions.

“We were getting good looks at the basket, they just weren’t falling for us,” said senior forward, Quentin Noblin.

Despite all the missed shots, the Griffons continued to fight back as the cut Missouri Southern’s lead to two points on three different occasions in the second half. The last of which was with 28 seconds remaining. Western was forced to foul and the Lions made their free throws down the stretch to close out the game.

“I was very happy with the team’s effort to fight back even though a lot of our shots weren’t falling,” head coach Tom Smith said.

Martin Nolan falls away from the basket during the Men’s game against Washburn. This past Saturday, Western lost to Missouri Southern 79-74. Photo by Ryan Richardson

Western had four players score in double digits in the game, including Dominique Thuston’s team high 21 points followed by Marcus Rhodes with 18, James Bush with 16 and Noblin finishing with 12 points.

The Griffons will need to regroup quickly as they return home to take on the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday night.

“The UNO game is a must win for us if we want to keep our hopes up of making the tournament,” Noblin said.

Western drops to 9-6 in MIAA play and 14-8 overall and is currently ranked eighth in the regional polls. They will look to get key wins against UNO, Southwest Baptist and the University of Central Missouri to improve their regional standings.

Western was down the whole first half of the game, with the Bulldogs shooting lights out from the three-point line. Truman shot an impressive 63.6 percent.

Head coach Tom Smith said Truman played hard the first half, but began to lose stamina.

“They wear themselves out by running their offense sometimes,” Smith said. “They just run it and run it and they get tired and I think they went that stretch of about ten minutes where they didn’t shoot very well, on the other hand we didn’t extend the lead that time either. That hurt us. We missed three free throws and a layup, so we had a possible five points to get an eight point lead and we didn’t.”

In the second half Western came out with a 22-5 run to get back into the game. Down the stretch they added 11-14 free throws to secure the victory. During this time, the Griffons shot 54 percent from the floor, and 60 percent from beyond the arc.

Photo by Ryan Richardson

“We played hard and fought through it,” Thuston said when asked about the three point shooting onslaught in the first half.

Truman also had a huge presence inside the lane with 6’10”, 280 pound, Vesko Filchev from Bulgaria. Senior Marcus Rhodes said practicing with 7’ teammate, Brandon Beck, helps prepare for such tall opposition. They kept the big man frustrated all night long only allowing him four points and eight rebounds. The Griffons seemed to take him totally out of the game, with several three-second violations and offensive charging fouls.

“Beck kind of counters our shots in practice, he makes it harder for us, so when we get to the game and we are playing against a seven footer it makes it easier,” Rhodes said.

Ethan Freeman had a double double for Truman, with 11 rebounds and 12 points. Stefan Garrison had 18 points and Alex Henderson added 15 in the game as Truman’s leading scorers.

Rhodes said what secured the third straight home win was “Sticking together, teamwork, and playing hard.”

Western’s record is now 11-5 and 6-3 in the MIAA. The Griffons will take on Pittsburg State this Saturday, Jan. 30, at home at 7:30 p.m.

The Griffons jumped out to an early 23-9 lead. The Griffons had a balanced attack early on as many players contributed. Head coach Tom Smith attributed the fast start to playing well offensively.

“We shot the ball well early and we had some good possessions early,” Smith said.

The Griffons had lapse on the defensive end for the rest of the half as the Bulldogs ended the half on a 28-13 run. The run was capped by a 75-foot heave at the buzzer by Banks Estridge, which gave the Bulldogs a 37-36 lead heading into the half. Sophomore Reggie Bunch thought the shot took a little out of the team.

“It changed are whole mood, we thought we were going to go into the half with the lead,” Bunch said.

The Griffons and Bulldogs were involved in a seesaw battle the whole second half. The Griffons held a small lead at 53-49 with 9:48 left in the game. The Bulldogs pulled away with a 24-15 run and ultimately claiming the victory.

The Griffons were led in the game in scoring by Bunch who poured in 19 points and also added 11 rebounds for a double-double. The Griffons add three other players in double figures as Gus Moss added 16 points. Lonnel Johnson and Jay McFarland added 11 points a piece. The successes of practices haven’t translated over to the games for the Griffons.
“We have been working hard in practice, we just haven’t been able to win any games,” Bunch said.

The Griffons are currently sitting in last place in the MIAA. The Griffons will have to win their last three remaining games to have any chance of making the MIAA Conference Tournament. Even if the Griffons win out there is no guarantee they will make the tournament. Coach Smith believes the Griffons owe it to the university to finish the season strong.
“They are getting their school played for and have an obligation to finish out the season,” Smith said.

The Griffons struggled in key areas during this game. The Griffons were out rebounded in this game 40-31 and gave up 17 offensive rebounds, which resulted in many second chance opportunities for the Bulldogs. The Griffons only had six assists in the game, while they turned the ball over 11 times.

The Griffons didn’t fair any better on Saturday as they lost again, to Central Missouri by the score of 69-54. The Griffons were led in scoring by Bunch, who poured in 21. The only other Griffon in double figures was Johnson who added 16 points.
The Griffons will wrap up there season as they will travel to Maryville to face Northwest on Wednesday. Then they will be back home on Saturday against Missouri Southern to wrap up the season.

Bunch is a sophomore and has a lot of potential for his future years here at Western. He led the team in per game minutes with 32.9, with that much time on the court it was hard for him not to lead the team in other categories. Bunch had more rebounds than any other player with an average of 7.7 a game, and comes in a close second with 16.8 points per game.  His 6’5” frame and excellent shooting skills, it is hard for Bunch not to score points when he is shooting about 14 shots per game.

Men’s head basketball coach, Tom Smith, is very pleased with Bunch’s achievements this year, and feels he has a lot of potential for the future.

“Reggie is a great player, he is young and has a lot more learning to do,” Smith said.  “But he is a great asset to the team.”
Bunch displays hard work and a lot of effort during practices, therefore, keeping him in good shape.

“I work hard for my accomplishments everyday,” Bunch said. “I am trying to be productive, I work hard during practice so it is easy for me during games.”

Coach Smith feels like Bunch is one of the best offensive players the Griffons have right now.

“He shoots well, runs well, and puts up a lot of points, he is a great attribute to this team’s offense,” Smith said.

Bunch has so far played in every game this season, and will continue to practice and play hard until he has a championship.
“My future goal for this team is to lead us to a conference and national championship,” Bunch said. “I will try and step up and be a leader to achieve my goals.”

Bunch has also led his Racine, Wis. high school to two Wis. state championships, in doing so he was All-State player for two years, first All-Country for three years, and a first Team All Conference for three years.

Since the season is coming to an end, Bunch said he would like to continue for his degree in recreational management. Although, he does not have a girlfriend right now, Bunch is on the hunt now with a little more time in his schedule. He claims if all goes well he will continue this education and basketball career at Western. He will look to finish this season strong and build for next year.

The men’s and women’s basketball team couldn’t find the right formula to win on their recent road trips as they both went 0-2.

The men fell in their first game 67-54 against Pittsburg State. The Griffons were as close as 41-40 with 12:42 left in the contest, but the Griffons couldn’t overtake the Gorillas.

The Griffons struggled offensively posting a season low 54 points. Head coach, Tom Smith believes the Griffons missed some opportunities.

“We had our chances and made some decent runs at them,” Smith said. “Then we came up empty on about three or four possessions.”

The only Griffon in double figures was sophomore Reggie Bunch. He had 18 points in the contest. Smith believes Bunch’s athleticism is key for the Griffons.

“Reggie brings energy offensively,” Smith said. “His athletic ability helps the team.”

The women didn’t fair much better against the Gorillas as they lost their game 73-65. The Griffons jumped out to a early 20-9 lead, but the couldn’t keep the momentum rolling for the whole game. The Griffons were led in scoring by senior Chemia Woods who had a career high, 21 points in the game. Jill Johnson and Yanique Javois were also in double figures as they each added 12 points.

The men struggled again offensively as they lost 65-52 against Fort Hays State, setting a new season low for points. The Griffons were led in scoring in the game by senior Jay McFarland as he had 15 points in the game. No other Griffons were in double figures, but Kyle Kirschner had a season high nine points.

The women came close to ending their losing streak, but couldn’t quite get it done as they fell to Fort Hays State by the score of 81-79. The game featured 11 ties and 16 lead changes. A put back by Meshia Mason with one second left broke the tie and ultimately won the game for the Tigers. The Griffons losing streak has now reached 11 games. The Griffons were led in scoring by Johnson as she had 24 points. The other two Griffons in double figures were Javois and Rachel Luteyn who each had 14 points.

Both teams are now in danger of missing the conference tournament. The women’s team currently stands at 9-13 (4-10) and is currently in a three way tie for the last confer­ence tournament spot. The men’s team currently stands at 9-14 (3-11) and are currently three games out of a conference tournament spot. Coach Smith knows time is ticking on the Griffons to make their move.

“We have to do something quickly or we will not make the MIAA tournament for the second year in a row,” Smith said. “That is something that we are not accustom to.”

The Griffons will be back in action with a home game against Truman State on Wednesday and a road game against Central Missouri on Saturday. The Griffons will look to get back to winning ways.  

The Griffons managed to shoot only 36 percent from the field. Head Coach Tom Smith believes the Griffons need to be more disciplined during games.

“Our shot selection was poor from beginning to end,” Smith said.

The Griffons got off to a fast start as they jumped out to a 12-6 lead. The Gorillas closed the half out on a 20-11 run to take 26-23 lead into the half.

The Gorillas came out hot in the second half beginning the half on a 11-4 run. Coach Smith believes turnovers played a role in that run.

“We just had a lot of poor possessions to begin the second half,” Smith said. “We had three turnovers in the first five possessions.”

The Griffons were led in scoring by Ray Brown he had 14 points on 5-7 shooting. The other players in double figures  for the Griffons were Lonnel Johnson with 12 points and Reggie Bunch with 10 points. Bunch who leads the team in scoring believes keeping their heads in games is important for the Griffons.

“To have more success in conference we need to work on execution and staying focus,” Smith said.

Turnovers played a big factor in the game. The Griffons committed 21 turnovers in the game. The turnovers led to 30 points for the Gorillas. Coach Smith knows for his team to be successful they need to limit turnovers.

“We need to work on limiting turnovers and taking better care of the ball,” Smith said.

The Griffons did do a good job of rebounding in the game. They out rebounded the Gorillas 40-39. They also had 17 offensive rebounds.

The Griffons also struggled from beyond the three point line in the game. The Griffons hit only 3-15 three pointers in the contest. The Gorillas shot great from beyond the three point line making 10-16 three pointers for an astonishing 62 percent. Coach Smith doesn’t believe the Griffons weren’t ready to play.

“We had a couple of decent practices heading into the game, so it wasn’t a lack of being ready,” Smith said.

  The Griffons will get back in action Jan. 29 when they travel to Southwest Baptist and they will also play Feb. 2 as they travel to face rival Washburn. The Griffons will look to pick up conference win on their road trip. The Griffons will need to limit turnovers and play better defensively to pick up wins. 

The men needed to win the game to go to the MIAA tournament, but in a season where nothing seemed to go right for the Griffons the predictable happened, they lost.

This the first time that the Griffons will not go to the MIAA post season tournament.

The basketball team has made the tournament all 17 years the school has been in the MIAA up to this point.

In the last game of the season, Western missed 18 of their 22 3-point attempts, which describes what the team has been about all season.

The Griffons will finish a disappointing season 12-13.

Tom Smith now needs to hit the recruiting trail hard and find some faster, more athletic and tougher players to fill next year’s roster.

The victory by Missouri Southern ended a miserable season for the Griffons in which fans would come to watch the women’s team play, then leave before the guy’s game started.

One fan told me that everyone used to come for the guy’s games, and no one really cared as much about the women’s team until this year. Fans do need to stay and support their school, but the women’s team did out shine the guy’s for the whole season.

The Western women came out, played hard and won games. They didn’t lose at home when the fans came to watch. The guys didn’t do this. The biggest thing is they didn’t do was win.

Everyone wants to see a winner, if that doesn’t happen people aren’t going to come to the games or stay to watch your team play. They want to be excited about the team they are cheering for.

The Missouri Western men stepped up to the challenge and snapped a five game losing streak beating the Pittsburgh State Gorillas 73-64 Wednesday night. The sweet taste of victory returned to the Griffs again thanks to a new team attitude. It couldn’t have come at a better time either. With their tournament hopes slipping through their fingers after losing eight of the last nine games, Missouri  Western looked like a new team out there on the floor.

“It’s a difference in attitude,” senior guard Kenny “Pooh” Oliver said. “It’s more of us wanting to, instead of us having to. In practice, now it’s like we want to run these 11 lines, instead of ‘oh shoot, we have to run 11 lines.’”

The revival of the Griffs Wednesday night could be credited to many different areas of play, but it didn’t hurt to have Jay McFarland on our side either. The 6-foot-8-inch junior led the way, shooting perfect from the field and leading all scorers with 20 points.

“It was a coming together for us,” said McFarland.

The victory can also be attributed to the three-point shootinggame. Missouri Western shot a lights out 40 percent from beyond the arc, whereas Pitt. State made only one of their 13 attempts, standing at 7.7 percent. Oliver knocked down some crucial threes in the game, making it harder and harder for the Gorillas to come back. This was important to Pooh because he had been in somewhat of a shooting slump prior to the game.

“It’s about time I hit something,” Oliver said. “It felt like I couldn’t throw a rock in a river. Coach just told me to keep shooting.” The shooting paid off for Pooh and the Griffons, proving to be the biggest difference in the game.

Pittsburgh State seems to be the cure for the MWSU men’s illnesses. Coach Tom Smith and the Griffons seem to always have the answer for a very tough Pitt. State team.

“For some reason, they’ve had trouble with us; nobody else really has. But they have had trouble matching up with us,” said Smith. The last game Missouri Western won was against the Gorillas in an overtime thriller. This time around, it was more of a Griffon show though.

“It was more of a convincing win than last time,” McFarland said.

A lot of the campus’s attention has turned towards a very successful women’s team, and sometimes people forget about the men. It was great to see the guys playing at the top of their game again.

“We haven’t won in front of our home crowd in awhile, so it was a win for them, it was a win for us, it was a big win for our confidence basically,” Oliver said. “Just to finally get over this hump now, and hopefully we can run off two, three, four wins in a row.”

In order for the Griffon men to make the tournament, they will have to do just that. Win. The Missouri Western men Wednesday night looked like a new team. It may seem like it’s a little late to make a turnaround, but it’s better late than never. This team has a lot of heart, and one thing is for sure: they will go down fighting.

That was the point that Joe Manthe decided to take over the game. He scored nine of the teams last 11 points down the stretch to give the Griffons the lead 61-60.

Fort Hays had the ball though with a chance to take the lead with less than a minute left but missed and had to foul.

Guard Rickey Quarles ended up with the ball in the clutch situation, was fouled by Fort Hays and sent to the free throw stripe for two shots with 14 seconds left in the game. Quarles had to make at least one of the free throws to ensure that luck shot Fort Hays took and went in wouldn’t beat his team. He missed both.

Fort Hays ran down the court and got three shots off. Miss, rebound, miss, rebound… And the final miss before the buzzer sounded to end the game. Fans for Missouri Western finally got to take a sigh of relief after the two missed free throws and the three Tiger chances to score in the last 14 seconds. The Tigers did everything in their power to get the ball in the basket but couldn’t convert.

It was frantic madness for those long seconds, but once the buzzer sounded, everything stopped. The Griffons men got to hold their heads high the second game in a row.

The Griffons played hard in the first half led by guard Kenny Oliver who broke down the defense with ease, then got the ball to open shooters on the perimeter or, as the double-team came to stop the drive, Oliver would hit one of his teammates streaking to the basket.

Joe Manthe, who has started the last two games for the Griffons, played great against the Tigers on Saturday. In the first half Manthe had 12 points for the Griffons, including an alley oop over the top of the Fort Hays Tiger defense. He out jumped his defender who saw the play coming, grabbed the ball off the defenders fingertips, pulled it back and then dunked it with ease.

The crowd went wild for maybe the first time all season long. The sad thing is, even though the Missouri Western men played hard, were physical, got rebounds and were winning 33-31 at halftime, people still left after the halftime show was over. The men played just as well in the second half even though no one was watching.

The team they were playing wasn’t great, but they were still playing for something. What that is, I don’t know. Maybe to make it to the MIAA tournament? I don’t know but it has been fun to watch them play the last three games. They have out played every opponent and even the game they lost against Emporia, they never quit. Next up for the Griffons is Truman State in Kirksville, Missouri.

Washburn raised their record to 7-12 on the season and 3-7 in the MIAA. The worst team in the conference now has a better record in the MIAA than the Western men, who can’t seem to stop anyone from scoring a basket.

They have the second worst defense in the MIAA. They give up 74.1 points a game and allow opponents to shoot a staggering 46 percent from the field, which is good enough for worst in the MIAA. Western’s rotations are slow, which that leaves people open for three and results in them also having the worst three-point defense in the league.

To put this simply, the Western men are at the bottom of almost every category the MIAA posts on its Web site.

One student said he would have left earlier, but because of an award ceremony at halftime, had to stay until then.

Washburn, the worst scoring team in the MIAA, shot 48 percent from the field and scored 12 more points than their season average.

This isn’t the first time that Washburn beat Western. On Dec. 9 the Griffons went to Washburn and lost there, too, 77-76.

The bright spots for Western were guards J.R. Reed who had 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and Joe Manthe was 5-of-11 from the field and had 14 points. Kenny Oliver added seven more assists to his conference-leading total.

The Griffons still have a lot of season left to go and they were playing great basketball earlier in the season. They need to get on a role and finish the season strong if they want fans to stay at the games

Not to down Kobe, because I do think he is a good player, but he’s nothing without Shaquille O’Neal (Let’s be honest). To be able to win a championship you have to have a great team and the Lakers don’t have it. Kobe is their team. I’ve got to give the Lakers a little props. They are starting the season off well, but did you see Friday night’s game Lakers vs. Pistons? The Lakers started off terrible when Kobe only scored two points in the first quarter until he realized that they were getting spanked on their floor. He tried to pick up the pace forth quarter, but sorry Kobe. it’s a little too late for that. The game ended with embarrassment on Kobe’s behalf because he is the team- don’t anybody else get recognized. So I have to ask, this is this the guy that you think is going to be awarded the best player in the NBA? I think not.

Wade has a much better chance of winning over Kobe; you don’t have to take my word for it, just check out the stats. Kobe 21.8 pts/g compared to his performance last season 35.4 pts/g. Wade 25.4 pts/g. If you had to choose now best player in the NBA between these two Wade wins all day.

But enough of the small talk lets go to team that’s going all the way this season-the Phoenix Suns. Let me give you’ll a quick overview of my team: Steve Nash who has won his second straight MVP award in 2004-2006. Shawn Marion who is an up coming star 19.3pts/g. Leandro Barbosa who is just incredible 20.3pts/g, he shot five straight threes in Thursday night game against Dallas Mavericks. Raja Bell and Boris Diaw continues to baffle fans because you never know what to expect out of those two. Amare Stoudemire back in action from his season out because of his knees, he’s on fire with steals and blocks.

So there you have it the team that will make it to the playoffs again but this time we are in it to win it. It’s a wrap for all you Kobe fans, sorry to disappoint you but the Lakers are not going to make it. With the Phoenix Suns we just don’t have one great player for the team, but we have a team of great players. The Suns are on a bad start but beware because were just warming up.

Many other players come up when this topic is being discussed. Players such as Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan. While all these players are good, they just don’t compare to Kobe.

Kobe won three straight championships in 2001-2003. Yes, he did have Shaq, but nobody can win three straight championships by themselves. I know right now you’re thinking,
“What about Michael Jordan?”

I have to say that Jordan was on a totally different level, and Jordan also had good role players and an underrated Scottie Pippen. So you have to respect Kobe’s rings.

Dwyane Wade won a championship last year with Shaq, but he also has Jason Williams, Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and Alonzo Morning. That’s a pretty nice squad if you ask me, but Wade won’t win it again. That is one compared to three.

You also have to respect Kobe’s 35.4 pts/g last season, which includes an 81 point performance. He does shoot the ball a lot, but his shooting percentage was 45%, slightly better than Iverson’s. He shot 60% in the game where he scored 81. If my guy is shooting 60% from the field, I don’t care if he shoots every time, especially if I got guys on my team like Brian Cook, Devean George, Luke Walton and Kwame Brown. Who are these guys? That is not a good supporting cast.

Not only did he score, but he carried his team to the playoffs. LeBron James also carried his team, but he is still young and is in a weaker Eastern Conference where you have the Heat and the Pistons. At the same time, James also had a good team with players such as Larry Hughes, Damon Jones and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who is pretty good). If Kobe had this cast then the Lakers would have been in the NBA finals. Instead they went to a game seven with the Suns, who made a nice run in the playoffs. Again, look at what Kobe had to work with.

Tracy McGrady has never done anything too special individually, or with a team for me to consider him as one of the best. Time Duncan, to be honest, is a great player with great numbers and he has championships under his belt. I just can’t consider him the best because he is just to dang boring. I hate watching him play, and I hate the Spurs. So he is out too.

So I think I made a good case for my man Kobe. You will find out this season what Kobe is really made of. Let Kobe get one good player come trade time, and it’s a wrap. The Lakers will always be a threat with Kobe on the team. Others will compete but, for now, he is the best in the game.

There are always high expectations for the men’s basketball team at Missouri Western because of the past success the team has had over the years. The Missouri Western basketball team has been to the Division two national playoffs 10 times and has won the conference outright another 5 times.

The players that need to step up and take the leadership roles on the team are Keion Kindred a transfer from Long Beach State University in California, Kenny Oliver a junior college transfer from Penn Valley Community College and Brian Videau a junior college transfer from Yuba College also in California.

Head Coach Tom Smith believes these players can be the backbone of the team that is trying to get back into the playoffs for the first time in three years.

“The first goal is to be at the top of the MIAA,” Smith said. “We have to be at the top of the MIAA to have a chance to make it to the national tournament.”

Smith plans to win games with many different players seeing time on the court during the season.

“The team will rely on eight to 12 players every night to win games,” Smith said. “There won’t just be one guy scoring 20 points a night, rather three or four players putting up 10 points a night.”

More people will have to contribute to the team this year compared to last year’s team that was lead by seniors Demarius Bolds and Jason Warren who put up most of the points for the Griffons.

This could be a blessing in disguise for the Griffons, because ball movement within the offense will be key to the success of the Griffons season and will get everyone involved. It will give everyone a chance to make plays.

This year’s team will rely on transfers from all over the United States. Smith collected players from California, Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Kansas, Illinois, Maryland and of course Missouri.

This can be good as long as the talent and personalities that Smith has collected gels well with one another. This has to be done in the short period of time they spend on the basketball court everyday in preparation for the season.

Smith gathered all of these players from different places through the contacts he has been able to gain through his 19 year tenure at Missouri Western. If he hears about a player that will fit well on his team and in his system from his contacts he jumps at the opportunity to add the new talent.

“The players that we bring here are not just good at basketball.” Smith said. “They are also successful academically.”

Smith brings in character guys that make it easy for players that have not played together gel as a team.

The Griffons play their first game against Missouri-Rolla in the Hillyard Tip-off Classic at the MWSU Fieldhouse. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17.

Brian Videau will assume the role of leader this upcoming basketball season. The 6’5” forward from Sacramento, Calif. said that Missouri Western was the right fit from the start.

“When I came on my visit I appreciated the atmosphere,” Videau said. “Coach Smith was genuine. He let me know that everything will have to be earned.”

Videau felt a family connection here, something that is very important to him. He said he was treated like a little brother when he first arrived.

Head coach Tom Smith knows that Videau is an easy person to get along with.

“I absolutely love the kid and his personality,” Smith said. “We clicked on his visit. He is a great kid, the top five kids I’ve ever had in my 32 years as a head coach. He is a good student, has good character and his goals are in line.”

Videau is here to better his life and the life of his family, a family that includes two young boys. Videau’s two children are waiting patiently back in California.

“They are my inspiration,” Videau said. “I do it for them. My dad always told me that ‘Without struggle there’s no progression,’.”

Videau was brought in because he can play many different ways. “He’s an in between size,” Smith said.

“He can go in and out, shoot the three or play in the paint. He had these skills and the effort was there, but there was still a problem in Videau’s game. He wondered where he fit,” Smith said. “He was tentative at times, and it led to mistakes.”

Videau said he learned from last year, and he will use his experience to an advantage.

“Now I will groom the new guys and pave the way for them,” Videau said.

Now he will be taking the leadership role in his senior season.

“I have to be a leader and lead through example,” Videau said. “I have to practice what I preach. I play hard and do what I need to do to try to bring a MIAA Championship to Missouri Western.”

This leadership is exactly what the Griffons need and it will produce wins, but one day there will be no more basketball for Brian Videau.

“I’m here to get my degree,” Videau said. “After ball I’m going to intern in Southern California. I will become a business corporate in the public relations department.”

Videau will take his experience and use it in the business world, but before that he will have one last season to play.