Men's Basketball Falls at Home to Graceland

Marshall, Mo., (November 19, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted Graceland (Iowa) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The women's team pulled away in the second half for a 61-52 win.  The men's team suffered a loss by a final score of 77-61.

The first points of the men's game were scored by Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) to give Missouri Valley a 4-0 lead with two minutes played.  Graceland followed with a run, scoring the next eight points to go in front, 8-4, with nearly five minutes gone in the contest.  Junior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) ended the MVC drought with a free throw, followed by a layup from Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) to pull the Vikings into an 8-7 deficit.  The Yellowjackets stayed in front, and held a 13-9 advantage near the 13-minute mark.  Floyd cut into the GU lead with a dunk, and a three-pointer from Junior Runelvys Hernandez (Independence, Mo.) put Missouri Valley back on top, 14-13, with less than eight minutes off the clock.  Graceland came back to reclaim the lead, 16-14, but Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) added a layup to tie the teams at 16-16.  The two teams traded points midway through the half, and a Driver basket tied the score once again, at 20-20, near the eight-minute mark.  The Yellowjackets responded with six-straight points over the next two minutes, and eventually held a 30-22 lead with under five minutes to play in the half.  Hernandez came through with a layup, while Floyd put down a dunk to trim the deficit to 30-26 in the final two minutes before halftime.  Hernandez made a pair of free throws, and Driver added a layup just before time expired to bring MVC into a 34-30 deficit at the break.

Missouri Valley used a three-pointer from both Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) and Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) at the start of the second half to get within a 39-36 score with less than two minutes played.  Graceland then went on an 8-2 run over the next four minutes, and made it a 47-38 score.  Patterson and Hernandez both added a layup to end the stretch, and put MVC in a 49-42 deficit near the 13-minute mark.  The Yellowjackets worked up a double-digit advantage, 56-45, with just over eight minutes played.  Hernandez made a pair of field goals to help bring the team into a 58-49 score midway through half, but GU put together a run from there.  An 8-1 stretch for Graceland followed to put the score at 66-50 with just over seven minutes remaining.  The Vikings were unable to pull back into a single-digit deficit through the rest of play, and fell by a final score of 77-61.

Hernandez came off the bench to lead the team with 13 points and grab five rebounds.  Smith scored 11 points and had four assists off the bench.  Missouri Valley forced 11 turnovers and totaled 17 assists.

Missouri Valley falls to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference.  Graceland improves to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams will travel to Baldwin City, Kan., for a Heart doubleheader with Baker (Kan.), Tuesday evening.  Women's game is set for 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 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.