Roadrunners basketball opens season

Nov. 1 Missouri Valley College Junior Varsity in Sedalia

The State Fair Community College Roadrunners (SFCC) opened their 2023-2024 campaign with a 93-57 win over Missouri Valley College Junior Varsity inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

SFCC jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with less than 16 minutes remaining in the opening half and never looked back.

"I think we were able to establish some roles," said Roadrunners Head Coach Matt Brown. "We have some guys who are long and who can score around the basket. We tried to establish something inside early in the game that we really haven't had in a while. We also have some talented guards; Ben Miller came off the bench for us tonight. I think Steven Samuels has an opportunity to be a special player here as well. We have some pretty good pieces; we have to learn how to put it all together."

Every player who played in the game was playing their first game at SFCC.

Samuels led four Roadrunners in double figures scoring with 19 points. Thomas Diew contributed 12 points and led the team in blocked shots with two. Elijah Edwards chipped in with 11 points. Felly Njilayi pitched in with 11 points, pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, and dished out a team-high four assists.             Mosa Osagie led the team in steals with three.

Nov. 3 Central Methodist University Junior Varsity in Sedalia

SFCC opened their portion of the McDonald's Classic with an 84-76 victory over Central Methodist University Junior Varsity in Sedalia on Friday night, Nov. 3.

The game featured nine lead changes and eight ties. Central Methodist took a 50-43 lead late into halftime. SFCC took a 66-62 lead with 11 minutes and 34 seconds remaining in the game. The Roadrunners controlled the game the rest of the way to emerge with their second victory of the season.

"We came out flat," said Brown. "We were able to come out the second half and turned the game around pretty quickly. We were able to get a lot of guys in the game. We have to get off to a better start in games. I thought Thomas (Diew) played very well. We have 15 new guys and a new assistant coach; it is all still a learning experience. The bottom line is we still found a way to win, so I'm happy about that."

Diew led the team in scoring with 30 points and tied for the team lead in assists with four. Diew also led the team in steals with five. Edwards contributed 14. Isaiah Jackson added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Samuels also dished out four assists.

Nov. 4 Cloud County Community College in Sedalia

SFCC (2-1) closed the McDonald's Classic with a 75-41 loss to Cloud County Community College inside the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia on Saturday night, Nov. 4. The game featured four lead changes and two ties.

Cloud County led the game 11-7 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the opening half. Cloud County extended the advantage to 46-16 at halftime.

SFCC struggled offensively throughout the night shooting 23.1% from the field. The Roadrunners were forced into 22 turnovers in the game.

"Cloud County was the more physical and tougher team," said Brown. "That loss was completely on me. I thought we were going to be more physical and tougher than we were. I will make sure going forward that we are."

Diew tied for the team lead in scoring with Alex Gunnels with 11 points each. Samuels and James Munlyn tied for the team lead in rebounds with five each. Samuels dished out a team-high three assists in the game. Samuels and Osagie tied for the team lead in steals with two.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics