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Missouri Western Tops Southwest Baptist, 82-72
By David Boyce
When Missouri Western built a 20-point lead early in the second half against Southwest Baptist, the Griffons knew the game was far from over.
Both teams were playing for more than just advancing in the MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament. They were trying to improve their South Central Region credentials.
Missouri Western took a step closer to the South Central Regional tournament by beating Southwest Baptist 82-72 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium.
"It was an absolute must game," Missouri Western coach Tom Smith said. "The winner has a good chance to go to the NCAA and the loser is out. We hope that holds true."
The Griffons entered the game ranked No. 7 in the South Central and Southwest Baptist was eighth. The top eight teams in region advance.
"We kind of had the pressure on us all week," said Marcus Rhodes, who finished with a game-high 22 points. "Ever since we beat them last game, we knew we were battling them for the last spot in the NCAA (Division II) Tournament. We prepared the whole week and came out on top."
Southwest Baptist's season is probably over. The Bearcats finished 20-11, losing their last two games to Missouri Western.
"Missouri Western is a very fine team and will probably make the NCAA Tournament this year," Southwest Baptist coach Jeff Guiot said. "They are athletic and well coached.
Missouri Western is now 18-10 and can all but guarantee a spot in the regional tournament if it beats Washburn when the two teams meet at 6 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
Missouri Western was definitely in good shape when it held a 48-28 lead after a three-pointer by Dominique Thuston.
The 20-point deficit woke up the Bearcats. They went on a 13-2 run and closed to 50-41.
"We knew we had to stop turning the ball over and be strong with the ball," Rhodes said. "We knew we had to stop their run. We knew they would have to come out hard. We just really tried to keep attacking, but just be smart with it."
From that point on it pretty much remained an 8-to-10 point game.
Southwest Baptist's last hope came when Tomas Brock drilled a three-pointer with two minutes left, slicing the Griffons' lead to 74-67.
"They did just enough in the second half to stay ahead," Brock said. "I'm proud of my teammates for keep fighting. It was just out of grasp for us the whole second half."
Justin Taylor responded to Brock's trey with a dunk. It drained the last bit of energy out of the Bearcats. The drive and slam was impressive for Taylor, who hurt Southwest Baptist in the first half with three-pointers.
"I had my mind set to score even if I had to go over the guy," Taylor said.
Taylor was just one of many players who came up with big plays.
Early in the first half Marcus Rhodes drove the ball to the basket with an infectious energy that spilled over to his teammates.
One of those baskets gave the Griffons a 16-11 lead that grew to 19-11 on a three-pointer by Marcus Jones.
In the latter stages of the first half it was Justin Taylor with the three-pointers that pushed Missouri Western's halftime lead to 40-26. The Griffons shot 61.5 percent in first half.
"I guess we were just feeling it," Rhodes said. "They were all rhythm shots. We just penetrated, kicked and shot the ball. We knew we had to get good shots because they were going to zone us."
Taylor was 4-for-5 from behind the arc in the first half. Two of his three-pointers came right after Southwest Baptist made a three-pointer.
To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.
