By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The energy inside the MWSU Fieldhouse is at an all-time high.
At least, the highest it's been since 1997-98.
Both the Missouri Western men's and women's basketball teams remain unbeaten in conference play after the No. 20 Griffon women topped Central Missouri 68-67 in overtime, while the Griffon men defeated the Mules, 79-65 in St. Joseph Saturday.
Both the Missouri Western men's and women's teams sit in first place in the MIAA, and are both off to a 4-0 start in league play for the first time since 1997-98.
"The girls' team has been phenomenal this year," Missouri Western's Will Eames said. "They kind of got us going, because we kind of struggled and they weren't losing. So, for them to do what they're doing this season is big time. We're just trying to follow what they're doing. They're leading the way, winning the first game here. We just have to do our job here."
The Griffon women (8-0, 4-0 MIAA) got the day started with a terrific first quarter, going up on UCM 20-10 and eventually 27-10 early in the second.
The Jennies, fresh off of a Final Four appearance this past March, made their charge - an 18-0 run, in fact, to take a 28-27 halftime lead.
The Griffons were scoreless for the final 8:11 of the second quarter.
"We have to learn from being very lethargic offensively," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "We had only seven paint touches in that (second) quarter. We typically have 30 paint touches in a quarter, so we have to understand what makes us go and how we have to operate."
The second half was practically anybody's game. Missouri Western trailed by as many as six points midway through the third quarter, but trailed by only two entering the fourth.
Brionna Budgets opened the fourth with a three-pointer to put the Griffons ahead, 46-45. The Griffons led by as many as four points several times in the fourth, but an Ali Vigil three-pointer tied it at 59 with 2:08 to go.
The game eventually went to overtime, knotted at 61. The extra period started very well for Western, as Corbyn Cunningham knocked down a layup 45 seconds in to get the scoring started.
A three from Jaelyn Haggard 23 seconds later then made it 66-61 Western. The Griffons went scoreless for the final three minutes of overtime and absorbed a couple of late buckets from UCM's All American forward Nija Collier, but still held on for a one-point win.
The Jennies (5-4, 1-1 MIAA) had the ball in the final 15 seconds of OT, but solid defense by the Griffons forced Kade Hackerott into a tough three-point shot with just a few seconds left. The shot missed, and a Jennies foul right after gave Western the ball back with the lead and only a second left.
"I think it's a great team win," said Corbyn Cunningham. "We knew we had to prepare for them and play hard against them and I'm just happy we executed."
Budgets finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Corbyn Cunningham logged a team-high 25 points to go with nine boards. Collier led UCM with a game-high 30 points and 15 rebounds - her seventh double-double in nine games this season.
The Western men, meanwhile, turned a close game in the first half into a 42-35 halftime lead. The Griffons (8-4, 4-0 MIAA) eventually built a 19-point second half lead with 13:17 left.
The Mules would go on a 20-7 run to make it a 65-59 game with 5:26 left, but that's as close as UCM would come. Two three-pointers by Will Eames and another by Caleb Bennett in the final 3.5 minutes gave the Griffons a double-digit advantage and enough cushion to pull away.
Eames finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three.
"I hit one early that was pretty open and that kind of got me going," Eames said. "I've been more confident in my shot lately. I've been getting in (the gym) with Coach (Jon) Hood every day and just working on simple spot-up shots. For me to be able to get some good looks early, and be able to ride the momentum throughout the game, that was big for me."
Q Mays scored 18 points, while JaRon Thames came off the bench to score 13. The Griffons shot a solid 50.9% (29-of-57) from the field, including 14-of-31 on threes, but they struggled at the foul line, making only 7-of-15 from the stripe.
"I don't know if anyone practices free throws more than we do," Missouri Western coach Will Martin said. "I told the guys that it's all about confidence. It's not about reps - you're getting the reps. You have to step in. You have to visualize it going down. You have to have confidence."
Even so, the Griffons have reeled off six straight as they get set for their next challenge - a trip to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State (9-1, 3-0 MIAA) on Dec. 18.
The defending national champion Bearcats took down Lincoln in Jefferson City Saturday, 84-54.
"(Northwest's) Ben McCollum is a phenomenal coach," Eames said. "He's going to get them ready for us and Coach Will is going to get us ready for them. It's going to be a battle for sure. I like playing up there, we all like playing up there. It's going to be a fun environment and we're just going to prepare one day at a time for that one."
The Missouri Western women, meanwhile will play their third game in five days when they host William Jewell (0-6, 0-2 GLVC) on Monday night at 7 p.m.
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