Greyhounds Payback Pioneers on Sophomore Day

In a case of role reversal from their first meeting this season, the Greyhounds dominated the second half in taking a 99-76 victory over the North Arkansas Pioneers Saturday at The Dog House in West Memphis. In their first region loss of the season on January 28, the Greyhounds fell 90-73 in Harrison, but were playing Saturday with a full squad for the first time since Thanksgiving and it paid off.

North Arkansas (21-7, 5-4) jumped out early by hitting three three-pointers in the first seven minutes and led 22-14 with 13:01 left in the first half. But the Greyhounds used a 9-0 run to get back in the game, and then used a 19-7 run to lead 42-29 at the 3:30 mark. ASU Mid-South took a 47-35 lead into halftime, and then continued to expand the lead in the second half. The Greyhounds led by 21 at the 14:18 mark on a Jailen Anderson jumper, took a 26-point lead with 7:22 left on a T.J. Stewart putback, and a Jesse Washington dunk gave ASU Mid-South its largest lead at 90-61 with 5:54 remaining. The Pioneers would then close the game with a 15-9 run of their own for the final count.

The Greyhounds (20-8, 7-2) shot an outstanding 60.7% from the field and 6-of-14 (42.9%) from the three-point line while limiting North Arkansas to 40.6% shooting from the field and just 24.0% (6-of-25) from the arc and controlling the boards, 41-28.

Jesse Washington led six Greyhounds in double figures with 20 points and 7 assists. Braxtyn McCuien scored 14 points, Christian Thompson and Kyrin Dock added 13 points each, and Jailen Anderson and T.J. Stewart chipped in 10 points each. Thompson pulled down a game-high 8 rebounds while Dock finished with 5 boards, 4 assists and a game-high 6 steals before fouling out.

With the win, the Greyhounds have clinched at least a share of the Region 2 Championship and a first-round bye in the NJCAA Region 2 Tournament and will host a semifinal game on Saturday, March 4, at 3:00pm. They next play a non-region game at St. Louis Community College on Monday before traveling to National Park College for their final game of the regular season on Saturday, February 25.

Should the Greyhounds win at National Park College, they would clinch the Region Championship outright along with the number one seed in the region tournament. A loss at National Park College means the Greyhounds share the championship with National Park and wait for the outcome of the South Arkansas at SAU Tech game. Should the Greyhounds lose and SAU Tech wins, the Greyhounds would still receive the region tournament's 1-seed, but if both the Greyhounds and SAU Tech lose, National Park would get the 1-seed and ASU Mid-South would take the 2-seed.

2022-23 NJCAA Region 2 Men's Basketball Standings