Greyhounds Sweep Pioneer Classic

By Chuck Livingston
The Evening Times
Sports Editor
and MSCC Sports Information

Fresh off a tight win against Kansas City Kansas CC on Friday night in Harrison, MSCC had to prepare for their second back-to-back game of the young season against MCC-Penn Valley on day two of their tournament appearance in the Pioneer Classic in Harrison, Arkansas.

For the second straight day, the Greyhounds notched a big win at a neutral site as they secured an 87-80 win, and moved their record to 3-2.

"We have played a tough schedule so far, so to be over .500 is a great thing for our program. However, we know we still have a lot of areas to improve on and it is still early in the season. We're proud of our progress, but in no way are we content," MSCC Head Coach Chris Parker said.

The Penn Valley game never really got out of hand, but it was never particularly tight either as the Greyhounds never trailed.

The Greyhounds started fast out of the gates with a quick 7-0 run after a Thaddeus Handley dunk, a Handley to Justin Harris alley-oop and a Veasley three-point shot.

From there on, each team settled in and went back-and-forth with each other as Penn Valley cut the MSCC lead to four points on two occasions in the second half, but could never get closer. And on the other side of the coin, MSCC's lead opened up to as many as 14 points until late in the game when Penn Valley heated up from three-point range, hitting three from the arc in the final three minutes to trim the spread.

"We played well this weekend, and we're going to find ways to continue to improve. We have a long way to go, but we're on the right track," Parker said of his team's performance in the Harrison tournament.

MSCC led 38-29 at halftime after holding Penn Valley to 32% shooting for the half. And when their opponent heated up, so did the Greyhounds, shooting an efficient 63% from the field to Penn Valley's 47% in the second half.

Jake Veasley had another great night scoring the basketball against Penn Valley as he threw in 19 points in the game, along with six rebounds, as well as a sharp 3/4 mark from three-point range.

Joe'Randle Toliver responded to an increase in playing time to post 14 points and five rebounds on a tidy 7/9 mark from the field.

Handley had 13 points and Justin Harris pitched in 12 points to account for MSCC's double-digit scorers. Rodney Ollison chipped in nine points to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Berkeley Boston led the team for the second straight night in assists with six to go along with three rebounds and three steals.

MSCC will return home to The Dog House on Thursday, November 21, as the men return to action against Mid-Continent University in a single game with the tipoff at 6:00 p.m.

After 12 hours in their bus over a two-day span on the road, the Greyhounds look forward to being back in front of their fans. "There's no place like home," said Parker.