The MCC men's basketball traveled to Sedalia, Missouri Wednesday night to take on the Roadrunners of State Fair Community College. The 18-8 Roadrunners have struggled lately, dropping three of their last four games. The 17-10 Tigers have played well the last few weeks, winning five of their last seven games, and would continue playing well, defeating the Roadrunners 74-68.
Mohamed Thiam had another standout performance for the Tigers, shooting 10-14 from the field while going 3-6 from the three-point arc for 23 points. Freshman guard Goran Vidovic ended the night with 14 points, going 6-9 from the field. Javarcus Word, Bassirou Ndiaye, and Kelton Edwards each ended with nine points. The Tigers were as efficient as they have been all year, shooting 60% as a team against a tough State Fair defense.
"I thought we played well tonight," stated Head Coach Brynjar Brynjarsson. "We played a complete game, offensively and defensively. With our final regular season game this weekend and then the Regional Tournament starting Monday, I think we are a good spot."
The Tigers offense took control early, shooting 68% in the first half. Taking a seven-point lead into halftime, the Tigers would not let up. They would again put on a show going 13-25 in the second half while limiting the Roadrunner offense. Freshman Javarcus Word hurt the Roadrunners from the three-point arc, as he knocked down big shots all game long to extend the lead.
The Roadrunners were led in scoring by Tyreek Scott-Grayson, who came off the bench to shoot 8-9 from the field and 5-10 from the free throw line for 23 points. AJ Walker also had a productive night for the Roadrunners, shooting 8-16 from the field for 19 points. The Tigers were aggressive on the boards, out rebounding the Roadrunners 33-22 with Bassirou Ndiaye coming down with nine.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday, when they travel to Norfolk, Nebraska for their final ICCAC regular season game with Northeast Community College. The Hawks are currently 13-15 and 0-7 in the conference. With either team unable to change their conference seeding, the two teams will play again on Monday, February 26 in the first round of the Region XI Tournament. Monday's game will be streamed live on mccathletics.com with links posted on MCC Athletics social media pages.