Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener to Columbia at Home

Marshall, Mo., (November 4, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's basketball team opened its season with a home non-conference game against Columbia (Mo.), Saturday evening inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The Vikings traded leads with Columbia throughout much of the game, but fell by a final score of 79-68.

Missouri Valley recognized Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) with specially made t-shirts in support of heart awareness, as Lance played in his first game since February 1, 2023.  The team claimed an early lead in the contest, as Junior Runelvys Hernandez (Independence, Mo.) sank a three-pointer just over one minute into the action to make it a 3-2 score.  The Vikings were held scoreless over the next four minutes, as Columbia went on a 13-0 run to move in front, 15-3.  The drought for MVC ended on a Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) jumper with nearly six minutes played, and he followed one minute later with a fast-break dunk after a steal from Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.).  Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) made a three-point shot, and Taylor added one free throw to bring the deficit down to single-digits, at 20-11, near the 12-minute mark.  The Cougars stretched their advantage back to double-digits midway through the half, with the score at 25-12.  Taylor added a three-pointer, with a pair of free throws from Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) cutting the gap to 25-17 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.  Lance sank his first three-point shot of the game moments later, then came up with a steal that eventually led to a three-point basket from Taylor to make it a 27-23 score with less than seven minutes left on the clock.  A steal and a dunk from Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) moved MVC to within a 30-27 score, followed by a Smith steal and layup to shrink the gap to 30-29 in the final two minutes before the break.  After CC added a field goal, Smith made a three-pointer in the final seconds to send the teams into halftime tied at 32-32.

Scoring in the second half started with a Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) layup, and Hernandez made a three-point basket to bring MVC in front, 37-34 with less than two minutes played.  Jones followed with a layup moments later, and the team had its largest lead, 39-34.  Columbia tied the game with five-straight points, but Jones sank a pair of free throws to bring the Vikings in front, 41-39, with just over three minutes gone in the half.  The Cougars briefly went on top with a three-pointer, but Hernandez followed with back-to-back three-point field goals to make it a 47-42 score near the 14-minute mark.  Five-straight points from CC tied the teams once again, while a three-pointer from Floyd gave MVC a 50-47 lead with eight minutes played.  Columbia then went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to build up a 55-50 advantage.  Hernandez made a three-point shot to end the Viking drought, while Lance tied the teams at 55-55 on a three-pointer with eight minutes to play in the contest.  Missouri Valley again went on a stretch without any points, as CC moved ahead, 61-55, as the clock went under six minutes.  Taylor made one free throw to end the scoreless streak, then added two more from the free throw line to cut the deficit to 61-58 past the five-minute mark.  An offensive rebound and put-back from Burnett, followed by baskets from Lance and Smith put the gap at 67-64 for MVC in the final three minutes.  Jones added another layup as the game neared one minute remaining, to make it a 69-66 score, but Columbia pulled away from there.  Missouri Valley was outscored by a 10-2 margin over the final moments of the contest, and fell by a 79-68 score.

Hernandez finished with 14 points, and Taylor came off the bench to score 14 points.  Smith added nine points, while both Lance and Jones scored eight points each.  The Vikings forced 17 turnovers in the game and made 11 shots from behind the three-point line.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 0-1 on the season, while Columbia improves to 2-0.

Up next, the Viking men's basketball team will host Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) in a non-conference game, Tuesday at 7 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

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.