Men's Basketball Falls on the Road to Central Methodist

Fayette, Mo., (Jan. 3, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams played for the first time in the new year on the road in Fayette, Mo., in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against Central Methodist (Mo.), Wednesday evening.  Women's basketball held on to defeat the Eagles in a shootout, 95-93.  The men's team fell by a final score of 95-84.

The two teams traded shots early in the men's game, as Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) made the first field goal, with a three-pointer from Senior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) tying the contest at 5-5 with three minutes played.  Central Methodist responded with a six-point run, while a three-point shot from Junior Jagger Lawler (Kansas City, Mo.) ended the MVC drought and brought the team into an 11-8 deficit over the next three minutes of play.  Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) followed with a basket and Junior Logan Walker (Lebam, Wash.) gave the Vikings their first lead of the game, on a three-point field goal, to make it 13-11 near the 13-minute mark.  Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) capped the 10-0 run with a field goal, and MVC held a 15-11 advantage.  The Eagles responded with another run, this time outscoring MVC by a 10-0 margin to pull ahead, 21-15 midway through the half.  Walker ended the run with a three-pointer, while Smith added a field goal to put the deficit at 24-20 near the nine-minute mark.  The two teams traded points over the next stretch of play, which featured a basket from Jones and a three-pointer from Lance to put the gap at 30-26 with less than eight minutes to play in the half.  Central Methodist then extended its advantage to 38-28 with just over five minutes remaining.  Floyd scored the next three points for MVC, but the deficit grew to 50-31 in the closing moments of the half.  Lance made a late three-pointer and Jones finished scoring for Missouri Valley in the half with a field goal, but the Vikings trailed at the break, 54-36.

Play in the second half started with a field goal from Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) and a three-point shot from Lance to cut the deficit down to 56-41 with just over two minutes gone after the break.  The two teams traded points over the next several minutes, with another three-pointer from Lance and a field goal from Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) making it a 62-50 score past the 15-minute mark.  Lance sank another pair of third three-pointers early in the half to make it a 68-56 score with nearly seven minutes played.  Smith brought the deficit to 68-58 with a basket moments later, but CMU answered with a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 77-58 midway through the half.  Junior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) ended the MVC drought moments later with a made field goal, then cut the gap to 80-65 with another basket near the eight-minute mark.  Patterson scored the next five points for MVC to make it an 82-70 score with less than six minutes to play, while Taylor and Smith each added one field goal to shrink the deficit to 84-74 near the four-minute mark.  Smith followed one minute later with another basket to put the Vikings in a single-digit deficit 86-77, but  the Eagles pulled away from there in the final stretch of play.  Missouri Valley fell, 95-84.

Lance led with a season-high 28 points to go with four assists.  Smith totaled 13 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and eight steals.  Patterson scored 12 points with five rebounds.  Missouri Valley forced 21 turnovers.

Missouri Valley drops to 5-8 overall and 4-5 in the conference.  Central Methodist improves to 11-2 on the season and 7-2 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host Clarke (Iowa) in a Heart doubleheader, Saturday, inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  Women's game at 12 p.m., followed by the men's game at 2 p.m.

Box Score-Click Here 

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.