Men's Basketball Falls in Late to MidAmerica Nazarene

Marshall, Mo., (Dec. 4, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Viking women's team suffered an 89-57 defeat to the No. 24 Pioneers, while the men's team fell in the final moments, 65-63.

The men's game began with MidAmerica Nazarene going on an 11-0 run through the opening three minutes of play.  Senior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) followed with the first made field goal for the Vikings, but MNU eventually stretched its advantage out to 21-4 with just over five minutes played in the contest.  Missouri Valley trimmed down its deficit over a three-minute stretch, as a three-point play from Smith, along with two made free throws by Senior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) and another Smith basket made it a 24-13 score past the midway point of the half.  The deficit shrank to single-digits after a Floyd layup made it a 26-17 score near the seven-minute mark.  MidAmerica Nazarene responded and pushed its lead out to 32-19 with five minutes remaining in the half.  Missouri Valley kept MNU scoreless over the next four minutes of play, as Smith came through with four points, and Floyd made three attempts from the free throw line to cut the gap down to 32-26 nearing the final minute of play.  A late three-pointer from Senior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) capped scoring in the half, and MVC went into halftime trailing 36-31.

Play in the second half started with the two teams trading points.  Senior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) put in the first field goal after the break for the Vikings, and baskets from Smith and Patterson brought the team to within a 41-37 score in less than two minutes.  Another Smith layup, followed by a steal from Smith which eventually led to a layup by Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) cut the deficit to 43-41 near the 16-minute mark.  The Vikings went scoreless over the next five minutes of play, but MNU could only hold a 47-41 lead.  Senior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) responded with a three-point play, and Senior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) added a jumper to put the score at 49-46 with nine minutes gone in the half.  The Vikings tied the score for the first time since the beginning of the contest, at 50-50, on a Lance three-pointer just past the nine-minute mark.  The Pioneers responded, and scored six-straight points to go back ahead, 56-50, more than one minute later.  The next two made field goals for MVC were three-point shots from Lance, as the team trailed, 58-56, with less than six minutes to play.  A steal from Patterson led to a Smith layup, then Patterson sank a pair of free throws to pull the team into a 61-60 deficit with just over three minutes left on the clock.  MidAmerica Nazarene made it a 63-60 game, but Burnett tied the score once again, on a made three-point shot, at 63-63 in the final minute.  The Pioneers scored on their next possession, and held a two-point lead with 12-seconds remaining.  Smith got off a three-point attempt to win the game at the buzzer, but the shot was off the mark, and Missouri Valley fell, 65-63.

Smith led with a career-high 17 points to go with six rebounds, while Lance scored 13 points and had six steals.  Missouri Valley forced 17 turnovers in the game, and came down with 14 offensive rebounds.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 2-7 on the season, and 1-5 in the conference.  MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Heart.

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

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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.