GRIZZLY DEFENSE KEY IN 17-POINT ROAD WIN AT CHADRON

CHADRON, Neb., Jan. 3 -- Adams State College issued the following press release:

The Adams State College men's basketball team played their best defensive game of the season while getting balanced scoring efforts as the offensive end as they posted a comfortable 72-55 road win at Chadron State College, Monday evening here in the Armstrong Gymnasium.

The victory was their first road win over the Eagles since 2003 and snapped a streak of three straight Eagle wins in the series between the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rivals.

The Grizzlies, who won in Kearney for the first time ever on Sunday, completed their second 2-game road sweep of the young season, and in the process improved to 8-2 overall and to 5-2 in RMAC play.

The Eagles, held to a 32.1 percent (17-53) shooting effort from the field, fell to 5-7 overall and to 3-5 in the loop with their third straight setback.

The Grizzlies, who have now equaled the 2007-08 squad for the program's best 10-game start in the NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present), also forced 30 Eagle turnovers and came up with 19 steals, a new NCAA Division II era school record. They also held the Eagles, one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the RMAC, to a 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) effort from beyond the arc,

Offensively, Shayar Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the Grizzlies, who committed just 12 turnovers, with 13 points. He also paced the Grizzly defense with five steals.

Meanwhile, junior Deray Wilson (Anchorage, Alaska) added 12 points, including 10 from the free throw line, while senior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) and junior Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.), the hero of the Grizzlies' historic win at Nebraska-Kearney a day earlier, chipped in 10 each. Heinbaugh was 5-for-7 from the field and did a tremendous job clearing the glass with a team-leading nine rebounds, seven of which came on the defensive end.

Ray Mitchell scored a game-high 18 points off the bench for the Eagles. The hosts also received 14 points from Jordan Lisco, who was the Eagles' lone 3-point shooting bright spot. He was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and from the field. The rest of the Eagles were just 1-for-16.

The 55 points allowed were the fewest the Grizzlies have given up this season. Equally as impressive, the field goal percentage defense was ASC's best mark in nearly a full year since holding NAIA Northern New Mexico to a 30.9 percent effort on Jan. 4, 2010.

Lee had a pair of dunks in the opening minutes as the Grizzlies went up 10-2 after spotting the Eagles the first bucket.

The Grizzlies would never trail again and used an 8-0 run, aided by two steals and another Eagle turnover, to build a 26-9 lead with 8:06 left in the first half.

The Eagles, who shot at a solid 76.2 percent (16-21) rate from the free throw line throughout the contest, would start to chip into the lead thanks to their charity stripe prowess and were down just 32-23 at the break.

After shooting just 24.0 percent (6-24) from the field in the opening stanza, the Eagles would pull within eight on three separate occasions early in the second half before a 9-1 Grizzly run, triggered by a Hanzlik trey and highlighted by two Wilson steals doubled the Grizzlies' advantage to 16 (47-31) with 13:28 left.

From there, the Eagles would get no closer than 12 down as the Grizzly lead ballooned to as many as 21 in the late stages.

All 10 Grizzlies that saw time in the game scored as ASC finished shooting 45.0 percent (27-60) from the field. Admittedly, the Grizzlies did struggle from the line and were just 16-for-34 (47.1 percent). Wilson was 10-for-14 although the rest of the Grizzlies were just 6-for-20 (30.0 percent).

The Grizzlies have now won 12 of their last 14 overall dating back to last season and have already matched their 2009-10 season overall and RMAC win totals.

The Grizzlies, now a solid 5-1 on the road this year, will next return home to play their next two and six of their next eight in front of a Plachy Hall crowd, a stretch that starts in just four days (Friday) against Western New Mexico (4-9, 4-3 RMAC), entering a Monday night battle at RMAC-leading Colorado Mines.

New Mexico Highlands (9-2, 5-2 RMAC) entering a Monday night game at Colorado Christian, will then venture into Plachy Hall a night later on Saturday.

Both games will tip-off around 8 p.m. following 6 p.m. women's clashes and can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com