The Roadrunners were electric in the first half – stealing, running and dunking the ball on Missouri State University – West Plains to a 10-point lead before halftime Wednesday, Feb. 8.
State Fair Community College cratered after the break, returning to a reality where the Roadrunners have dropped the last 10 of 11 games and seven straight with a 94-84 loss to the Grizzlies at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia.
Onteral Woodson Jr. led SFCC with 24 points, Russel Baker scored 19, Amir Smith had 17 with 14 rebounds and Vonny Irvin added 13 points in the game.
Baker had six assists.
State Fair head coach Kevin Thomas said the 2016-17 Roadrunners have a knack for inconsistent runs.
“That’s been our M.O. all year,” Thomas said. “We’re unable to put together 40 minutes of basketball. I thought in the first half, we had some lapses defensively, but for the most part I thought we did a decent job of guarding and we were able to get stops. Because we got stops, we were able to get out in transition and get some layups.
“In the second half, those easy buckets were hard to come by because we couldn’t stop them.”
The Grizzlies were led by Lane Duncan, who scored 30 points with four rebounds and assists each.
The Roadrunners entered the second half with a 9-point lead.
Duncan scored his 15th point with a 3-pointer in the second half, which cut the State Fair lead to 47-33. Woodson Jr. matched Duncan’s three on the next possession, but would signal the start of an 11-0 Grizzlies run.
Stefan Lakic, who finished with 23 points for MSU-West Plains, made it a 2-point game two possessions later to the lone applause of Grizzlies head coach Chris Popp.
The Grizzlies led 55-50 after the scoreless SFCC run and never relinquished its lead. Thomas said West Plains’ efficient offense “took the wind” out of the Roadrunners.
“We have good enough players to where we should be able to compete with people, but we just don’t play at a high level for long periods of time,” Thomas said. “We can’t sustain stretches and get stops and continue to get good possessions offensively.”
State Fair (11-14) hosts Indian Hills Community College 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15 at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia.
