Mules Win Another Thriller, Friday’s Highlights from Day 1 of Men’s Tournament
Conor Nicholl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Southern State University pulled off another remarkable comeback. In the past two seasons, the Lions rallied to win three games where they faced a deficit of 20-plus points.
Tonight, they kept the game closer, but still found themselves down seven with 45 seconds left to Central Missouri State University, the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
CMSU led 61-54 with 44.7 ticks left after Michael Hicks, the Mules’ first team All-MIAA player and the conference’s leading scorer, sunk two free throws. Southern made two foul shots on their end.
The Mules turned it over on the inbounds pass (their second miscue in the final minute) and Southern’s Quentin Edwards converted the first end of a two foul shots.
He missed the second one, but Southern grabbed the rebound and Edwards sunk a layup, bringing the Lions within two at 63-61 with 4.8 seconds remaining. Southern fouled Hicks, the MIAA’s best foul shooter, but Hicks made only one of two foul shots.
In an odd move, CMSU, the defensive team, called a timeout to set their defense with 4.1 seconds left.
“I thought our guys were a little rattled,” CMSU head coach Kim Anderson said.
The Mules remained composed on the inbounds play and forced Southern – a team that doesn’t shoot the three very well – into an off-balance 35-footer that fell short of the rim. The Mules will play No. 6 Emporia State, a team that beat the Bulldogs in a thrilling nightcap 96-90.
The key thing is that we just survived and won,” Anderson said. “There are nine teams in the conference and that ones that are ranked 5 through nine have all lost a lot of close games. That’s the difference. The breaks have fallen our way a few times. Every team is close, but I think SBU is better than everybody.”
Overall, the Mules are now 7-0 in conference games decided by six points or less, easily the MIAA’s best mark in those games. SBU is second with a 6-2 mark and the Bulldogs third at 6-3.
Anderson was surprised that his team hadn’t lost a close conference game.
“That’s very interesting,” he said. “We still have components from a [MIAA] championship team from last season that can step up and make plays. Mike Hicks is an outstanding player. It never entered my mind that he would miss a foul shot down the stretch. [Senior guard] Theo Jones has matured a lot and that has really helped. [Senior guard] Corey Brown is a veteran player with talent and experience.”
And the shooting has been the real key for the Mules. Entering tonight’s contest, Hicks was the second best player in the conference (behind Emporia’s LeRoy Dawson) in the final five minutes of conference games decided by two or fewer possessions.
Last night, Southern’s Myron Hodge did an excellent job of controlling Hicks from the field, holding him to 2-for-13 shooting from the field and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Still, Hicks scored 19 points because of incredible free throw shooting, hitting 14 of 16 shots from the line. He was clutch in the final five minutes, scoring five (all free throws) of the Mules’ nine points, keeping Southern at bay.
Star Watch
Many of the all-conference selections had cold shooting during Day 1: (stats include Friday)
First Team All-MIAA
Player Points Season Average FG Season Avg.
Sheldon Pace, SBU 10 13.7 44.4 52.7
Michael Hicks, CMSU 19 21.5 15.4 42.8
Eddie Jackson, PSU 12 19.2 21.4 35.4
Demarius Bolds, MWSU 13 17.3 16.7 45.4
Andy Calmes, Truman 15 13 66.7 49.1
Players: Pace said last Saturday at Pershing Arena that he will do whatever his team needs him to do. On Friday, that meant finding his guards for threes and getting the ball inside to center Frans Steyn (game-high 21 points).
Hicks: see above story. Hicks constantly had hands his face the entire night, but his free throw shooting allowed the Mules to advance to Saturday’s play.
Jackson: see Friday’s post. Jackson had a terrible game and was the main reason why Pitt. St. lost Friday.
Bolds: If Jackson was bad, Bolds may have been worse. His frustration showed the entire night as Mo. West. – many writers’ (including my friend and colleague Tyler Madsen) pick to win the tournament – shot a MIAA tournament-record low 26.4 percent.
Calmes: Calmes played very well for the Bulldogs, scoring points off layups, runners and rebounds. He had a fine night, but it just wasn’t enough for a victory.
Player of the day: Herrmann. He dominated the inside for Emporia State, scoring 26 points and helping the Hornets upset the third ranked Bulldogs.
Quote of the day: “There’s not going to be a lot of hugs and kisses in our locker room. Not that I would want to kiss any of my players, but I may hug one or two.”
Missouri Western head coach Tom Smith after his No. 5 Griffons lost 72-49 to No. 4 Northwest Missouri State University in the first round Friday night
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Southern State University pulled off another remarkable comeback. In the past two seasons, the Lions rallied to win three games where they faced a deficit of 20-plus points.
Tonight, they kept the game closer, but still found themselves down seven with 45 seconds left to Central Missouri State University, the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
CMSU led 61-54 with 44.7 ticks left after Michael Hicks, the Mules’ first team All-MIAA player and the conference’s leading scorer, sunk two free throws. Southern made two foul shots on their end.
The Mules turned it over on the inbounds pass (their second miscue in the final minute) and Southern’s Quentin Edwards converted the first end of a two foul shots.
He missed the second one, but Southern grabbed the rebound and Edwards sunk a layup, bringing the Lions within two at 63-61 with 4.8 seconds remaining. Southern fouled Hicks, the MIAA’s best foul shooter, but Hicks made only one of two foul shots.
In an odd move, CMSU, the defensive team, called a timeout to set their defense with 4.1 seconds left.
“I thought our guys were a little rattled,” CMSU head coach Kim Anderson said.
The Mules remained composed on the inbounds play and forced Southern – a team that doesn’t shoot the three very well – into an off-balance 35-footer that fell short of the rim. The Mules will play No. 6 Emporia State, a team that beat the Bulldogs in a thrilling nightcap 96-90.
The key thing is that we just survived and won,” Anderson said. “There are nine teams in the conference and that ones that are ranked 5 through nine have all lost a lot of close games. That’s the difference. The breaks have fallen our way a few times. Every team is close, but I think SBU is better than everybody.”
Overall, the Mules are now 7-0 in conference games decided by six points or less, easily the MIAA’s best mark in those games. SBU is second with a 6-2 mark and the Bulldogs third at 6-3.
Anderson was surprised that his team hadn’t lost a close conference game.
“That’s very interesting,” he said. “We still have components from a [MIAA] championship team from last season that can step up and make plays. Mike Hicks is an outstanding player. It never entered my mind that he would miss a foul shot down the stretch. [Senior guard] Theo Jones has matured a lot and that has really helped. [Senior guard] Corey Brown is a veteran player with talent and experience.”
And the shooting has been the real key for the Mules. Entering tonight’s contest, Hicks was the second best player in the conference (behind Emporia’s LeRoy Dawson) in the final five minutes of conference games decided by two or fewer possessions.
Last night, Southern’s Myron Hodge did an excellent job of controlling Hicks from the field, holding him to 2-for-13 shooting from the field and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Still, Hicks scored 19 points because of incredible free throw shooting, hitting 14 of 16 shots from the line. He was clutch in the final five minutes, scoring five (all free throws) of the Mules’ nine points, keeping Southern at bay.
Star Watch
Many of the all-conference selections had cold shooting during Day 1: (stats include Friday)
First Team All-MIAA
Player Points Season Average FG Season Avg.
Sheldon Pace, SBU 10 13.7 44.4 52.7
Michael Hicks, CMSU 19 21.5 15.4 42.8
Eddie Jackson, PSU 12 19.2 21.4 35.4
Demarius Bolds, MWSU 13 17.3 16.7 45.4
Andy Calmes, Truman 15 13 66.7 49.1
Players: Pace said last Saturday at Pershing Arena that he will do whatever his team needs him to do. On Friday, that meant finding his guards for threes and getting the ball inside to center Frans Steyn (game-high 21 points).
Hicks: see above story. Hicks constantly had hands his face the entire night, but his free throw shooting allowed the Mules to advance to Saturday’s play.
Jackson: see Friday’s post. Jackson had a terrible game and was the main reason why Pitt. St. lost Friday.
Bolds: If Jackson was bad, Bolds may have been worse. His frustration showed the entire night as Mo. West. – many writers’ (including my friend and colleague Tyler Madsen) pick to win the tournament – shot a MIAA tournament-record low 26.4 percent.
Calmes: Calmes played very well for the Bulldogs, scoring points off layups, runners and rebounds. He had a fine night, but it just wasn’t enough for a victory.
Player of the day: Herrmann. He dominated the inside for Emporia State, scoring 26 points and helping the Hornets upset the third ranked Bulldogs.
Quote of the day: “There’s not going to be a lot of hugs and kisses in our locker room. Not that I would want to kiss any of my players, but I may hug one or two.”
Missouri Western head coach Tom Smith after his No. 5 Griffons lost 72-49 to No. 4 Northwest Missouri State University in the first round Friday night
posted by Anonymous at Saturday, March 04, 2006
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