Men's Basketball Suffers Road Loss at Tabor

Hillsboro, Kan., (November 11, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's basketball team finished play at the Tabor Classic playing host Tabor (Kan.) Saturday evening.  The Vikings stayed close through the game, but fell by a final score of 77-62.

Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) opened scoring in the game for Missouri Valley with a pair of field goals to keep the team within a 5-4 score with three minutes played.  Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) added a basket, followed by a jumper from Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) and three-point shot from Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) to put the Vikings in front, 11-9 with nearly seven minutes played.  Tabor scored the next five points to move ahead, 14-11, near the 11-minute mark.  A basket from Junior Oliver Pauleon-Gerard (Covington, Ga.) and a three-pointer from Lance allowed MVC to reclaim the lead at 18-16 with nine minutes to play in the half.  The two teams continued to trade shots over the next stretch of play.  Taylor and Jones made back-to-back field goals, while Patterson sank a free throw to put the advantage at 25-23 near the seven-minute mark.  The Vikings went scoreless over a nearly three-minute span, until a jump shot from Jones tied the teams at 27-27.  Tabor then worked out to a 32-29 lead in the closing moments of the half, and Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) added a pair of free throws before time expired to send Missouri Valley into halftime trailing, 32-31.

Tabor came out and extended its lead to 36-31 quickly after the restart.  Patterson added a free throw, with Jones sinking a three-point shot to pull the team to within a 36-35 score with three minutes played.  The deficit grew to 41-35 less than one minute later, but Taylor came through with a pair of free throws, and Lance made a three-pointer to make it a 41-40 game just past the 16-minute mark.  Missouri Valley was unable to go back on top, and Tabor held its advantage, extending it out to 53-46 with 13 minutes to play in the game.  Junior Logan Walker (Lebam, Wash.) added a field goal, cutting the deficit to 53-48, but Tabor went out to a 57-48 lead past the midway point of the half.  The Viking deficit hit double-digits for the first time at 61-50 until a three-pointer from Walker made it a 61-53 score just past the eight-minute mark.  Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) cut the deficit down to 62-56 on a three-pointer, while Lance and Patterson each added on field goal to make it a 62-60 contest with four minutes remaining.  Tabor took control of the game from there, and outscored MVC by a 15-2 margin the rest of the way as Missouri Valley fell by a final score of 77-62.

Lance led with 11 points, while Patterson added nine points and 10 rebounds.  Taylor totaled eight points and eight rebounds.  The Vikings forced 14 turnovers in the game, and came down with 16 offensive rebounds.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 1-3 on the season, while Tabor improves to 3-1.

Up next, the Viking men's basketball team will open play in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, hosting MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The women's game will take place at 5:30 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.