Roadrunners earn first region victory

Jan. 17 Mineral Area College at Park Hills

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners fell to the fourth-ranked Mineral Area College Cardinals 91-49 on Wednesday night, Jan. 17 in Park Hills. The game was part of the Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference schedule for both teams.

SFCC led 11-10 with 13 minutes and 11 seconds remaining in the opening half. Mineral Area went on a run to take an 18-11 lead with under 12 minutes remaining and took a 47-29 lead into halftime. The Cardinals outscored SFCC 44-20 in the second half to seal the victory.

The Mineral Area defense held SFCC to a 31 percent from the field as a team. The Roadrunners turned the ball over 23 times.

Sophomore forward Cliff Barrow led SFCC in scoring with 13 points, including three three-point shots. Freshman forward Thomas Diew added 11 points. Freshman forward Isaiah Jackson led SFCC with six rebounds and two steals. Freshman guard Steven Samuels and sophomore guard Elijah Edwards tied for the team lead in assists with two each.

Jan. 20 Three Rivers Community College at Sedalia

SFCC (7-12, 1-2 in Region 16) picked up a hard-earned 69-66 home victory over Three Rivers Community College Saturday, Jan. 20. The game was part of the Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference schedule for both teams. It was also the Coaches vs. Cancer "Suits and Sneakers" fundraiser night.

The game featured nine lead changes and 10 ties. Three Rivers led the game 10-8 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the opening half. SFCC came back to take a 14-11 lead with 11 minutes and 41 seconds remaining until halftime.

SFCC got it going on offense to take a 27-22 lead at halftime. The game was tied at 33 with less than 15 minutes remaining, when Barrow knocked down a big three-point shot to tie the game at 40 with 11 minutes and 56 seconds remaining. SFCC took a 65-62 lead with two minutes 12 seconds remaining in the contest.

The Roadrunners made the plays down the stretch to emerge with a victory and send their fans home happy.

Samuels led the team in scoring with 22 points. Barrow pitched in with 15 points and a team-high two blocked shots. Jackson and Barrow tied for the team-high with eight rebounds each. Freshman guard Alex Gunnels dished out a team-high five assists. Samuels led the team in steals with four.

"It was a good game tonight," said Roadrunners Head Coach Matt Brown. "We lost to Moberly by three points in the exact same scenario, we also lost to Year Prep by three, tonight we were able to find a way to win. I'm proud of our guys for stepping up tonight. We played a different lineup than we had played all year. We made some adjustments. Any Region 16 game is going to be a battle. The most important thing that happened tonight was the money that we were able to raise for people in the area for their cancer treatment. Both teams winning tonight was great but, hopefully we were able to raise some awareness for Coaches vs. Cancer. For me tonight, the win was obviously special since we lost my son to cancer. I'm very proud of our kids night tonight, we needed that one."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics