Men's Basketball Overcomes Early Deficit to Top Central Methodist

Marshall, Mo., (Jan. 29, 2025)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted Central Methodist (Mo.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader inside the Burns Athletic Complex, Wednesday evening.  The Viking women's team went to overtime and earned a 65-59 win.  The men's team held off the Eagles for an 82-81 victory.

Missouri Valley fell into an early deficit to start the men's game, trailing 14-4 with four minutes played.  The Vikings cut down their gap, as Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) added a three-pointer, then a three-point play to make it a 15-10 score near the 14-minute mark.  The two teams struggled to put points on the board through the next stretch, only making one field goal apiece through more than four minutes of play.  Freshman James Porter (St. Louis, Mo.) responded with two layups, bringing MVC back to 18-16 midway through the half.  Central Methodist stretched out its lead, to 24-16, but Porter again came back with a layup near the eight-minute mark, as Missouri Valley trailed, 24-18.  A layup from Senior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.), a three-pointer by Jones, plus a steal from Smith that led to a fast-break Porter field goal brought the team to within a 26-25 score in the final six minutes of play in the half.  Jones scored the next five points for MVC, and gave the team its first lead of the contest, 30-29, with just over three minutes remaining on the clock.  The Eagles came back with a 6-0 run to move ahead, 35-30.  Senior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) put up a dunk, and a last-second three-pointer from Senior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) closed scoring in the half, but the Vikings trailed, 37-35.

Play in the second half started with a three-point play from Senior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria), a jumper from Smith and a three-pointer by Jones to help Missouri Valley go back in front, 43-39, with just over one minute off the clock.  Central Methodist responded, and eventually moved ahead, 50-47, three minutes later.  The Vikings continued to trail over the next stretch, until two made free throws from Porter tied the teams at 55-55, near the 13-minute mark.  Missouri Valley regained the lead two minutes later, on a layup from Jones, along with a Smith three-pointer and Senior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) steal and Floyd basket to put the score at 62-57 midway through the half.  Less than two minutes later, back-to-back three-pointers from Burnett gave MVC a double-digit advantage, 70-60.  Central Methodist responded with a 7-0 run, and made it a 70-67 score near the six-minute mark.  Jones followed with a three-pointer, and Burnett put in a layup, as the lead sat at 75-67 in the final five minutes.  Missouri Valley made it an 80-71 lead with just over three minutes remaining, but CMU worked back to an 82-79 deficit in the final minute.  Missouri Valley came up empty on its next possession, and the score was 82-81.  The front-end of a one-and-one situation was missed by Smith, giving Central Methodist one final possession.  The Eagles were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer, and The Vikings held on for an 82-81 victory.

Jones led with 28 points, while Burnett scored 19 points.  Porter came off the bench to finish with 12 points.  Missouri Valley forced nine turnovers in the game.

Missouri Valley improves to 9-12 on the season and 8-9 in the conference.  Central Methodist drops to 12-10 overall and 9-9 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking men's and women's basketball teams will travel to Canton, Mo., for a Heart doubleheader with Culver-Stockton (Mo.), Monday evening.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., men's game at 7:30 p.m.

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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.