Men's Basketball Drops Road Game at MidAmerica Nazarene

Olathe, Kan., (Feb. 5, 2025)-The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams went to Olathe, Kan., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Wednesday evening.  The women's team fell to the No. 11 Pioneers, 76-67, while the men's team suffered an 82-61 defeat.

The men's game started with MidAmerica Nazarene building up an early lead, out to 9-2 with five minutes played.  Missouri Valley responded with one field goal each from Senior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) and Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.), off a steal, to pull the team back to a 9-6 deficit, less than one minute later.  Senior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) came down with an offensive rebound and put-back, then Driver brought the gap down to 11-10 after a steal and fast-break layup near the 13-minute mark.  The Pioneers extended their advantage over the next two minutes, out to 17-10.  The next field goal for MVC came just past the midway mark of the half, as Ajanaku finished off a three-point play to make it a 19-15 score.  The Pioneers gradually added to their lead, eventually reaching double-digits, at 31-18, with less than seven minutes to play in the half.  Jones answered with five-straight points, helped by a block from Senior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling, Green, Ky.), as the team trailed by single-digits, 31-23, with five minutes remaining.  Senior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) made the next two baskets for MVC, but MidAmerica Nazarene worked its lead back to double-digits, 38-28, as the first half came to an end.

Play in the second half started with MNU extending its advantage, out to 46-31, with four minutes off the clock.  The next made field goal for Missouri Valley came with nearly eight minutes played after the restart, as a Driver basket made it a 54-35 score.  The two teams traded points through much of play in the second half.  Four-straight points from Smith, near the six-minute mark, shrunk the MVC deficit to 66-48.  A pair of three-pointers from Senior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) put the gap at 69-54 in the final five minutes.  That's as close as the Vikings could get late in the game, as the final score came out to 81-62.

Smith finished with 17 points and six rebounds, while Jones scored 17 points.  Burnett added 12 points.  Missouri Valley forced 17 turnovers and came up with 11 steals in the game.  

The loss moves Missouri Valley to 10-13 overall and 9-10 in the Heart.  MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 14-10 on the season and 13-7 in the conference.

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 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.