Men's Basketball Tops Clarke at Home

Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 8, 2025)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams welcomed in Clarke (Iowa) for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader inside the Burns Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.  The women's team led throughout in a 94-62 win.  The men's team built up an early lead, and finished with a 79-63 victory.

The two teams traded points through the opening five minutes of play in the men's game.  Senior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) put down a dunk near the 15-minute mark to send Missouri Valley in front, 8-7.  Senior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) followed with a three-pointer nearly one minute later, while Senior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) added a layup with just over six minutes played to increase the advantage to 13-7.  Missouri Valley went the next five minutes without a basket, but a three-pointer from Burnett made it a 16-9 score with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.  Burnett added 11 points over the next stretch, including a trio of made three-point shots, as the team maintained a double-digit lead, 27-17 with five minutes to play in the half.  The Vikings continued to increase their advantage through the rest of the half, which featured five points from Senior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria), and three-pointers from Floyd and Senior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) as MVC went into halftime ahead, 46-29.

Play in the second half started with made baskets from Ajanaku, Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.), and Floyd to put the score at 52-35 with five minutes played after the restart.  Freshman James Porter (St. Louis, Mo.) added a three-point play, and four points by Patterson stretched the advantage out to 59-39 at the 12-minute mark.  Porter sank another jumper one-minute later, but MVC went more than two minutes without another field goal.  Patterson ended the drought with less than nine minutes remaining on a made jumper, and the Vikings kept CU to only two points during the stretch of play, as the score sat at 65-44.  Missouri Valley continued to increase its lead over the next three minutes, with made baskets from Jones, Burnett, Ajanaku and Smith giving the team a 73-50 advantage with just over five minutes to play in the game.  The final field goal of the contest for the Vikings came on a three-pointer from Freshman Micah Jerry-Holt (Fort Worth, Texas), and Missouri Valley eventually came out on top, 79-63.

Burnett led with 19 points, while Ajanaku added 13 points.  Floyd had 11 points and five rebounds and Patterson came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds. Jones totaled eight points and ten rebounds, while Smith finished with five points, eight rebounds and nine assists.  Missouri Valley held a 47-32 advantage in rebounds, and limited Clarke to 39-percent shooting from the floor.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 11-13 on the season and 10-10 in the Heart.  Clarke drops to 5-18 overall and 5-14 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking men's and women's basketball teams host Benedictine (Kan.) for Courtwarming, Wednesday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 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.