Tuesday night the Grizzlies upset the No. 10 Orediggers in the quarter finals of the RMAC shootout. Giving the program its first postseason win since the 2012-2013 season, and marking the largest tournament upset the Grizzlies have accomplished under Coach Wilson.
The team was lead by seniors Mikey Hope and Juwan Buchanan scoring 19 and 24 points respectively.
Hope spurred the Grizzlies to an early run of 16-2 and gave the Grizzlies a solid lead of 28-14. The Orediggers responded with an 11-0 run to even out the competition but the Grizzlies finished out the first half with another decisive run to put them up 44-33.
Buchanan helped the Grizzlies seal the deal in the second half. While the Grizzlies lead by as much as 17 points in the second half, CMU sophomore Gokul Naiesan hit a series of three pointers and a bout of crucial free throws to put the Orediggers back in the running.
Grizzlies Senior Justin Kauffman sealed the victory for the Grizzlies making the final point of the game and giving the Grizzlies a three point lead with eight seconds left. The Orediggers were unable to get their final shot to land.
For the game the Grizzlies had impressive stats from the floor, shooting 88% from the free throw line, 52% from the 3-pt mark and 54% from the field. Along with a strong defensive effort the Grizzlies mark a 94-91 win that will advance them into the next round of the RMAC Shootout.
Up next, the Grizzlies will face another top 25 team in the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions on Friday March 6th. The Mountain Lions are currently ranked at No. 21 and just came off a solid defeat of Colorado Mesa.
The game will be played in Denver at the Auraira Events Center, home of the Metro State University Roadrunners. The remainder of the RMAC shootout will be played here as the Roadrunners are the highest seeded team remaining in the tournament.
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