Men's Basketball Drops Final Home Game to Park

Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 21, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted Park (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex for the final home games of the regular season.  The men's team fell, 88-81.

Park jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the start of the men's game with just over two minutes played.  Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) made the first field goal of the contest for Missouri Valley moments later, but the Vikings trailed, 12-3, at the 15-minute mark.  Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) ended the MVC drought with a basket, but the deficit sat at double-digits, 15-5, with just over seven minutes off the clock.  Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) followed with a layup, and Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) sank a three-pointer to make it a 15-10 game midway through the half.  Two minutes later, Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) scored five-straight points and cut the gap to 18-15 with eight minutes to play in the half.  Another Lance three-pointer made it a 21-18 score less than one minute later.  Burnett sank a three-point shot near the seven-minute mark, and MVC sat in a 25-21 deficit.  After a pair of Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) free throws put the score at 27-23, Park answered with a 10-0 to stretch its lead out to 37-23 with three minutes remaining in the half.  Burnett ended the run with a field goal, but the Vikings were unable to work the deficit down to single-digits before the break, and went into halftime trailing, 42-27.

Play after the break started with three quick points from Smith and a three-pointer from Burnett to help Missouri Valley trim its deficit down to 46-34 with two minutes off the clock.  Burnett added a basket just over one minute later, followed by a pair of free throws from Junior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) and another Burnett basket to cap 13-6 run in the first four minutes of play to work the deficit back to single-digits, 48-40.  Park responded with pushing its lead out to double-digits, 52-40, past the 15-minute mark, then scored nine-straight points over several minutes to stay ahead, 62-43, at the 12-minute mark.  Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) ended the MVC drought with a field goal, and Smith made two free throws to put the score at 62-47 midway through the half.  The Pirates again responded, and held a 67-49 lead one minute later.  Six-straight points, including two field goals from Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) and a layup from Jones cut the deficit to 67-55 with seven minutes remaining.  Park answered with extending its advantage to 73-58 as the game went under five minutes to play.  Missouri Valley continued to work down the deficit, as Burnett scored five points and Junior Dylan Drive (Covington, Ga.) added a steal and fast-break layup to put the score at 75-65 with just over three minutes on the clock.  The two teams continued to trade points through the next stretch, while back-to-back three-pointers from Patterson and Lance brought MVC into an 83-78 score with less than one minute remaining.  Park kept the rally from continuing, making five free throws in the closing moments.  The Vikings were unable to work back any closer, and fell, 88-81.

Burnett led with a career-high 29 points to go with six rebounds, while Lance totaled 15 points and five assists.  Smith had nine points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.  Missouri Valley came down with 19 offensive rebounds and forced 19 turnovers in the game.

Missouri Valley falls to 11-16 overall and 10-13 in the Heart.  Park improves to 12-15 on the season and 10-13 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to finish the regular season with a doubleheader at Grand View (Iowa).  Women's game at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 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.