Roadrunners Fall Short Against Top-Seeded Moberly in Region 16 Tournament

March 4 – Missouri State University-West Plains at Sedalia

SEDALIA, Mo. – The fourth-seeded State Fair Community College Roadrunners opened the Region 16 Tournament with a 73-60 win over fifth-seeded Missouri State University-West Plains in the quarterfinals Tuesday at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center.

SFCC (18-12) jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes, with sophomore guard/forward Jon Brandtner of Cape Girardeau hitting a pair of three-pointers. The Roadrunners extended the advantage to 18-5 with 12 minutes left in the first half and took a 34-21 lead into halftime.

Missouri State-West Plains cut the deficit to 36-26 early in the second half, but SFCC responded with a 9-3 run to push the lead back to 45-29 with 14 minutes remaining. The Roadrunners kept the Grizzlies at a distance, extending the lead to 63-43 with eight minutes left before securing the win.

Sophomore forward Sam Bradford of Houston led SFCC with 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Brandtner scored 12 points and tied for the team lead with nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Mosa Osagie of McKinney, Texas, also had 12 points and a team-high three steals. Freshman forward Malick Ndiaye of Arlington, Texas, contributed 10 points, while sophomore guard Alex Gunnels of Kansas City led SFCC with seven assists.

"We had four guys in double figures," head coach Matt Brown said. "Our assist-to-turnover numbers were almost two to one, and that's what we are looking for. When you value the ball, share the ball and move the ball, you're going to win, and that's what we did."

March 7 – Moberly Area Community College at Hillsboro

HILLSBORO, Mo. – SFCC (18-13) saw its season come to an end with a 64-55 loss to top-seeded and 13th-ranked Moberly Area Community College in the Region 16 Tournament semifinals Friday at Jefferson College.

The game was a defensive battle, featuring two lead changes and two ties. Gunnels hit a pair of free throws to give SFCC a 6-4 lead early, but Moberly responded with a 9-6 advantage. The Greyhounds built a 16-10 lead with less than eight minutes left in the first half and went into halftime up 30-23.

Moberly led 38-29 with 16 minutes left before SFCC fought back, trimming the deficit to 44-39 with 12 minutes remaining. Osagie hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 49-48, but that was as close as the Roadrunners would get. Moberly made key plays down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Bradford led SFCC with 17 points in his final game as a Roadrunner. Gunnels added 14 points, and sophomore forward Chin Hanson of Chicago contributed 10 in his final appearance for SFCC.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics