Feb. 20 Mineral Area College at Sedalia, Missouri

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners fell to the sixth-ranked Mineral Area College Cardinals 69-54 in their Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference opener on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Mineral Area led 27-9 in the first half. SFCC reduced the deficit to a 34-26 score at halftime. The Cardinals went on another big second half run to extend the lead and claim the victory.

"We had seven assists and 20 turnovers, you cannot win that way," said Roadrunners Head Basketball Coach Matt Brown. "We were 13 of 22 from the free-throw line, only 59% as a team and a lot of those were front ends of one and ones. You must be able to make your free throws and take care of the ball against a nationally ranked team."

Freshman guard Jamar Madge jr of Kansas City led the team in scoring with 15 points. Sophomore guard/forward Eman Eman of Québec, Canada had 11 points and a team-high two blocked shots. Freshman guard/forward Naysean Baisy of Seattle, Washington scored 10 points. Sophomore forward Corey Nzigamasabo of Montréal, Canada had nine rebounds - a team-high. Sophomore guard Mahamadou Nimaga of Bronx, New York and freshman guard Chad Kratzer jr of Allentown, Pennsylvania tied for the team lead in assists, with two each. Sophomore guard/forward Kohen Thompson of Memphis, Tennessee led the team in steals with four.

Feb. 21 Central Methodist University at Sedalia, Missouri

SFCC (5-3, 0-1 in Region 16, 0-1 in the MCCAC) fought back to earn a 72-71 come-from-behind victory over the Central Methodist University Eagles from Fayette on Sunday, Feb. 21 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center.

Central Methodist jumped out to an early 19-3 lead in the first half. SFCC battled back to take a 34-31 lead into halftime. The back-and-forth contest featured 11 lead changes and five ties. SFCC made a final defensive play to secure the victory.

"I knew that it wasn't going to be your traditional game against a junior varsity team," said Brown. "Their coach told me that they were going to have some varsity players playing here today…I knew it would be tough but, we were fortunate enough to find a win. Despite the win, I was really disappointed with our effort. I didn't think we were prepared to play."

Eman led four Roadrunners in double figures scoring 14 points.  Freshman guard Tavari Eckwood of Springdale, Arkansas added 11 points. Madge pitched in with 10 points, a team high four assists, and three steals. Nzigamasabo also added 10 points. Thompson pulled down a team high eight rebounds and registered a team high three blocked shots. Kratzer also had three steals.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics