Spencer Magana had a suggested headline following Pittsburg State’s 77-68 victory Saturday night: “Finally.”
The Gorillas (8-14 overall, 2-13 MIAA) put a notch in the win column for the first time in more than a month, using an efficient effort to put away rival Northwest Missouri State (11-11, 6-9).
“Over the last six games, when you asked me what we needed to win, I said that we needed a consistent effort,” said Pittsburg State coach Gene Iba. “That’s what we got this evening.”
The game was nip-and-tuck through the first half, with the Gorillas boasting the largest lead when they led 5-0 to start the game. The Bearcats topped that lead to start the second half, taking a six-point advantage at 37-31 and 39-33. But the rest of the half belonged to the Gorillas, who never trailed after C.J. Masters gave them a one-point lead with a layup with 14:44 remaining. When Northwest cut the lead back to one at 50-49, Henry Rogers scored six consecutive points to up the lead to seven.
“I was just playing and getting the ball from my teammates,” Rogers said. “I took whatever the defense gave me. Coach always tells me to slow down and try to see everything, and I just tried to do that.”
“Henry had his own little run there, and it made a huge difference,” Iba said. “Two of those buckets came when they double-teamed, and he knocked down the shots.”
As a team, the Gorillas dished out 14 assists to five turnovers.
The Bearcats cut to within three at 56-53, but Rodney Grace knocked down a pair of free throws and the Bearcats never came within one score again. The Gorillas knocked down 10-12 free throws in the final three minutes, with Magana going 6-6 from the line down the stretch.
“The coaches want me to have the ball with the game on the line,” Magana said.
Magana finished with 29 points, while Rogers (12), Grace (11) and Smith (11) were also in double-figures, while Masters, JaVon McGee and James Robinson combined for 10 assists to just one turnover.
Elijah Allen, Girod Adams, Edriss Floyd and DeShaun Cooper all scored in double-figures for the Bearcats.
“It feels great,” Rogers said. “We’ve been wondering when we were going to come around.”
“In the league, you have to protect your home court to have a chance to succeed,” Magana said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about for the second half of the season.”
Now the Gorillas will travel to Joplin to take on Missouri Southern, and Iba said he wasn’t sure how much momentum Saturday’s win would generate.
“This has been the kind of year where it’s been hard to tell,” Iba said. “We’ve been close to doing this before. I don’t know how many games we’ve lost by single digits, but we’ve only really been out of three games, when we played Hays and Central here and when we played up at Omaha.
“We’ve been close in games except that at some point, our consistency broke down,” Iba said. “Tonight, it didn’t break down.”
Pittsburg State men 77, Northwest Missouri State 68
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (68) — Elijah Allen 5-8 5-7 15, Girod Adams 3-7 4-4 13, Edriss Floyd 5-8 0-0 12, DeShaun Cooper 3-8 3-5 10, Maciej Ustarbowski 4-5 0-0 8, Jake Reinders 2-6 0-0 4, Bryston Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Arunas Simanavicius 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-48 12-16 68.
PITTSBURG STATE (77) — Spencer Magana 7-10 12-13 29, Henry Rogers 6-8 0-0 12, Andy Smith 5-12 0-0 11, Rodney Grace 2-2 7-12 11, James Robinson 3-4 0-0 6, CJ Masters 2-9 1-4 5, JaVon McGee 1-3 1-2 3, Zach Quick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 26-50 21-31 77.
Halftime — NWMSU 35, PSU 31. 3-point goals — NWMSU 6-15 (Adams 3-6, Floyd 2-4, Cooper 1-3, Williams 0-2), PSU 4-11 (Magana 3-4, Smith 1-4, Masters 0-3). Rebounds — NWMSU 29 (Ustarbowski 7), PSU 27 (McGee 6). Assists — NWMSU 14 (Adams 5), PSU 14 (Robinson 4). Turnovers — NWMSU 14, PSU 5. Steals — NWMSU 1, PSU 8. Personal fouls — NWMSU 22, PSU 17. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none.
|
|
|
Spencer Magana had a suggested headline following Pittsburg State’s 77-68 victory Saturday night: “Finally.”
The Gorillas (8-14 overall, 2-13 MIAA) put a notch in the win column for the first time in more than a month, using an efficient effort to put away rival Northwest Missouri State (11-11, 6-9).
“Over the last six games, when you asked me what we needed to win, I said that we needed a consistent effort,” said Pittsburg State coach Gene Iba. “That’s what we got this evening.”
The game was nip-and-tuck through the first half, with the Gorillas boasting the largest lead when they led 5-0 to start the game. The Bearcats topped that lead to start the second half, taking a six-point advantage at 37-31 and 39-33. But the rest of the half belonged to the Gorillas, who never trailed after C.J. Masters gave them a one-point lead with a layup with 14:44 remaining. When Northwest cut the lead back to one at 50-49, Henry Rogers scored six consecutive points to up the lead to seven.
“I was just playing and getting the ball from my teammates,” Rogers said. “I took whatever the defense gave me. Coach always tells me to slow down and try to see everything, and I just tried to do that.”
“Henry had his own little run there, and it made a huge difference,” Iba said. “Two of those buckets came when they double-teamed, and he knocked down the shots.”
As a team, the Gorillas dished out 14 assists to five turnovers.
The Bearcats cut to within three at 56-53, but Rodney Grace knocked down a pair of free throws and the Bearcats never came within one score again. The Gorillas knocked down 10-12 free throws in the final three minutes, with Magana going 6-6 from the line down the stretch.
“The coaches want me to have the ball with the game on the line,” Magana said.
Magana finished with 29 points, while Rogers (12), Grace (11) and Smith (11) were also in double-figures, while Masters, JaVon McGee and James Robinson combined for 10 assists to just one turnover.
Elijah Allen, Girod Adams, Edriss Floyd and DeShaun Cooper all scored in double-figures for the Bearcats.
“It feels great,” Rogers said. “We’ve been wondering when we were going to come around.”
“In the league, you have to protect your home court to have a chance to succeed,” Magana said. “That’s something we’ve been talking about for the second half of the season.”
Now the Gorillas will travel to Joplin to take on Missouri Southern, and Iba said he wasn’t sure how much momentum Saturday’s win would generate.
“This has been the kind of year where it’s been hard to tell,” Iba said. “We’ve been close to doing this before. I don’t know how many games we’ve lost by single digits, but we’ve only really been out of three games, when we played Hays and Central here and when we played up at Omaha.
“We’ve been close in games except that at some point, our consistency broke down,” Iba said. “Tonight, it didn’t break down.”
Pittsburg State men 77, Northwest Missouri State 68
NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE (68) — Elijah Allen 5-8 5-7 15, Girod Adams 3-7 4-4 13, Edriss Floyd 5-8 0-0 12, DeShaun Cooper 3-8 3-5 10, Maciej Ustarbowski 4-5 0-0 8, Jake Reinders 2-6 0-0 4, Bryston Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Arunas Simanavicius 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-48 12-16 68.
PITTSBURG STATE (77) — Spencer Magana 7-10 12-13 29, Henry Rogers 6-8 0-0 12, Andy Smith 5-12 0-0 11, Rodney Grace 2-2 7-12 11, James Robinson 3-4 0-0 6, CJ Masters 2-9 1-4 5, JaVon McGee 1-3 1-2 3, Zach Quick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 26-50 21-31 77.
Halftime — NWMSU 35, PSU 31. 3-point goals — NWMSU 6-15 (Adams 3-6, Floyd 2-4, Cooper 1-3, Williams 0-2), PSU 4-11 (Magana 3-4, Smith 1-4, Masters 0-3). Rebounds — NWMSU 29 (Ustarbowski 7), PSU 27 (McGee 6). Assists — NWMSU 14 (Adams 5), PSU 14 (Robinson 4). Turnovers — NWMSU 14, PSU 5. Steals — NWMSU 1, PSU 8. Personal fouls — NWMSU 22, PSU 17. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none.
