Men's Basketball Secures Postseason Berth With Win at Grand View

Des Moines, Iowa, (Feb. 24, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams finished their regular seasons with a Heart of America Athletic Conference road doubleheader in Des Moines, Iowa, against Grand View (Iowa).  The men's team pulled away in the second half and secured a conference tournament berth with an 81-58 win.

The men's game started with points traded to open play.  Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) tallied the first four points of the game for Missouri Valley, while Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) added a layup.  Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) made a pair of free throws, and Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) capped the opening six minutes of play with a layup to keep the teams tied at 10-10.  Smith followed with an offensive rebound and second-chance field goal, then sank a three-pointer to move MVC ahead, 15-12, with just over seven minutes off the clock.  Missouri Valley went scoreless over a more than two-minute stretch, with a free throw from Junior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) tying the teams at 16-16 near the 11-minute mark.  The next field goal for Missouri Valley came just over three minutes later, on a layup from Ajanaku, while a three-point basket from Jones pushed MVC ahead, 21-19, with seven minutes to play in the half.  Another layup from Ajanaku made it a 23-20 advantage, but Grand View followed with five-straight points to move on top, 25-23.  Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) came back with the next five points, while a three-pointer from Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) allowed Missouri Valley to hold a 31-27 lead with just over three minutes remaining.  The run continued from there, on five-straight points from Junior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.).  Patterson finished out the 14-0 run with a three-pointer, and the advantage reached double-digits, 39-27, late in the half.  Grand View cut its deficit down to 39-30 as the teams went into halftime.

The second half began with GVU working down the gap to 43-38 with three minutes played.  Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) answered with a  three-pointer, while Jones put in a layup to stretch the lead back to double-digits, 48-38, with nearly four minutes off the clock.  Grand View again chipped away at its deficit, and trailed, 51-45, near the 13-minute mark.  Driver and Patterson each added one field goal to make it a 55-45 score one minute later, and five-straight points from Smith, plus one more layup from Driver, pushed the lead out to 63-47 midway through the half.  Grand View stayed within a 68-53 score at the seven-minute mark, but MVC pulled away from there.  Lance came back with a basket, and Driver added an offensive rebound and tip-in field goal.  Burnett tallied the next three points to make it a 75-56 lead with just over four minutes remaining.  Missouri Valley held off GVU through the rest of the game, and a final dunk from Patterson closed scoring in the contest, and sealed an 81-58 victory.

Patterson finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Driver came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points to go with five rebounds.  Smith totaled 12 points and five rebounds, while both Jones and Burnett chipped in with 10 points each.  Missouri Valley held a 39-28 advantage in rebounds and forced 17 turnovers.

The win moves Missouri Valley to 12-16 overall and 11-13 in the Heart.  Grand View falls to 13-14 on the season and 11-13 in the conference.

With the win, Missouri Valley secured a berth into the Heart Postseason Tournament for the first time since the 2019-20 season.  The Vikings will be the No. 8 seed, and travel to play No. 1 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Wednesday.  Missouri Valley lost both meetings during the regular season.  The Vikings fell at home, 103-81, back on Nov. 15, and lost, 97-70, on the road back on Jan. 15.

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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.