Men’s Basketball Recaps Nov. 2-3

Nov. 2 Missouri Valley College at Sedalia

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners opened their season with a 77-46 victory over the Missouri Valley College Vikings on Friday, Nov.2 in the opening round of the McDonald's Classic inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Building.

SFCC jumped out to an early 17-6 lead and never looked back, as the Roadrunners led 40-18 at halftime.

"I thought our defense was pretty good," said Roadrunners Head Basketball Coach Matt Brown. "We played a lot of different combinations tonight. I thought there were times that we were really good offensively, when we were able to move the ball. We struggled shooting the ball at times, as we only made three of our 17 attempts from beyond the arc."

Freshman forward L.J. Bryan of Chelteham, Maryland led SFCC with 19 points and pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds. Chelteham also led the Roadrunners in blocked shots with three in his first game for SFCC.

Freshman wing Maurice Murray of Sicklerville, New Jersey and freshman guard Damaria Franklin of Chicago, Illinois chipped in with nine points each, while sophomore guard Dru Smith of Kansas City, Missouri added eight points.

Sophomore guard Josh Humphries of Tampa, Florida dished out a team-high six assists and freshman wing Jacayah Webster of Columbia, Tennessee had a team-high two steals in the game.

Nov. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy at Sedalia

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners closed out their portion of the McDonald's Classic on Saturday, Nov. 3 with a 91-71 loss to Sunrise Christian Academy of Wichita, Kansas.

SFCC (1-1) trailed 50-40 at halftime, but Sunrise extended the advantage in the second half. SFCC trimmed the deficit to single digits, but they could not close the gap.

"We just need to play harder and rebound stronger," said Brown. "We struggled to finish at the rim and they (Sunrise) altered a lot of our shots with their size."

Sophomore guard/forward Caleb Coleman of Hammond, Indiana scored 22 points and eight rebounds for the Roadrunners, while Damaria Franklin scored 22 points and five steals.

Franklin, along with freshman guard Alonde LeGrand of Harlem, New York, and sophomore guard Dewayne Charles of Kansas City, Missouri tied for the team lead in assists with three. Coleman registered a team-high two blocked shots.

"We are still searching for lineups," said Brown. "It was a learning experience. It will be interesting to see how we bounce back and respond against Metropolitan Community College."

SFCC will travel to Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Tipoff is 7 p.m.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics