Men's Basketball Falls to MidAmerica Nazarene in Postseason Quarterfinal

Olathe, Kan., (Feb. 27, 2024)- The No. 8 seed Missouri Valley College men's basketball team traveled to Olathe, Kan., to play No. 1 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in the quarterfinal round of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament, Presented by WinWon Technologies, Tuesday evening.  The Vikings fell by a final score of 106-69.

The game started with both teams held scoreless through nearly three minutes of play.  Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) and Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) each put in one early field goal over the next minute of play, but MidAmerica Nazarene eventually built up a 15-4 advantage just past the 15-minute mark.  Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) made a pair of free throws and Junior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) added a basket as the score sat at 17-8 just over one minute later.  The Pioneers maintained their lead over the next stretch of play, as Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) added four points and Patterson scored another field goal to make it a 25-17 deficit for MVC with less than nine minutes remaining in the half.  Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.), Patterson and Junior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) each made one field goal through the seven-minute mark to close the gap down to 27-23.  MidAmerica Nazarene responded with an 8-0 run to hold a 35-23 lead with five minutes remaining.  The Viking deficit grew to 40-26 over the next several minutes, but Driver recorded the next four points for MVC to make it a 43-30 score with just over two minutes left to play before the break.  Smith added one late field goal, and Missouri Valley went into halftime trailing, 53-32.

The second half started with one early basket each from Patterson, coming off a steal and fast-break opportunity, and Burnett, working the deficit down to 53-36.  MidAmerica Nazarene followed with an 8-0 to build up a 61-36 lead with just over two minutes played.  The Vikings were unable to cut down the gap through the rest of the half, and fell by a final score of 106-69.

Burnett led with 14 points, while Patterson added 12 points.  Driver came off the bench to score 11 points, while Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) scored nine points off the bench.  The Vikings came down with 13 offensive rebounds, and forced 11 turnovers.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 12-17 for the season while MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 25-4 and advances to the tournament semifinals, Friday.

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.