Roadrunners Basketball Game Story February 3-6

February 3 Missouri Baptist University Junior Varsity at Sedalia

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners defeated the Missouri Baptist University Junior Varsity from St. Louis 117-61 on Wednesday, February 3 inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. The victory was the third in a row for SFCC. The Roadrunners led 17-2 with under 15 minutes to go in the first half and never looked back.

"It was a good win for us," said Roadrunners Head Coach Matt Brown. "We played 10 guys tonight, including a couple of new guys. Caleb and Malek Mims are both athletic players who gave us a lot of energy."

The victory marked a milestone for Coach Brown, who earned his 50^th career win as the head coach at SFCC.

SFCC got another balanced scoring effort. The Roadrunners had five players in double figures led by a game-high 32 points from freshman guard/forward Lavric Mangala of Nashville, Tennessee. Mangala also tied for the team lead with five assists. He also led the team in steals with five. Freshman guard Jamar Madge jr of Kansas City scored 21 points. Sophomore forward Kohen Thompson of Memphis, Tennessee flirted with a double-double with 20, nine rebounds and five assists. Sophomore guard/forward Eman Eman of Québec, Canada added 11 points. Freshman forward Uros Gatic of Serbia had 10 points for SFCC. Caleb Mims of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania had five assists.

As a team, the Roadrunners forced 37 turnovers against Missouri Baptist.

February 5 Triton College at Moberly, Missouri

SFCC fell for the first time this season 91-79 to Triton College from River Grove, Illinois in the opening round of the Moberly Classic on Feb. 5 in Moberly. The game was tied at 46 at halftime and featured eight lead changes and three ties.

"Triton is really good," said Brown. "We had a chance to win the game down the stretch, but rebounding was the difference in the game. That is something that we tried to work on for Saturday and got a lot better at it on Saturday."

Sophomore Corey Nzigamasabo of Montréal, Canada tied for the team lead in scoring with Mangala with 19 points each. Nzigamasabo registered a team-high seven rebounds, four blocked shots, and three steals in his first game as a Roadrunner. Freshman guard/forward Naysean Baisy of Seattle, Washington registered 12 points. Madge pitched in with 11 points. Thompson dished out a team-high seven assists.

February 6 Sunrise Christian Academy at Moberly, Missouri

SFCC (3-2) closed out their portion of the Moberly Classic with a 76-69 loss to Sunrise Christian Academy from Wichita, Kansas on Feb. 6 in Moberly. The back-and-forth contest featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.

"We had a chance to win both games and just came up short," said Brown. "Despite the losses it was a good weekend. The competition was just that good."

Eman led the Roadrunners in scoring with 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds. He tied for the team lead in assists with three. Thompson contributed 12 points and three assists. Madge added 10 points and three assists in the game. Freshman guard Tavari Eckwood of Springdale, Arkansas registered a team-high two steals in the game.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics