Huge second half drought costs UHSP at Missouri Valley

MARSHALL, MO. - The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy went on the road Tuesday night to meet an in-state rival in Missouri Valley. Each team entered the contest still in search of their first win of the new season as the Eutectics came in winless through two games, the Vikings coming off a season opening loss to Columbia. Missouri Valley used an 18-0 run early in the second half to blow it open en route to a 98-65 triumph.

The game was 44-34 at the half. Just seconds into the second half, Landon Engelage nailed a three and then made a pair of free throws to cut the gap to 44-39. Out of a Viking timeout, Engelage missed a triple to would have cut the margin to two. A Keenan Jones layup was answered by a Dwight Newsome jumper and it was still a five-point game at 46-41. That is when the game fell apart for the Eutectics as they went scoreless for a 6:27 and saw MoVal score 18 straight to take a 64-41 lead. After Braylon Rios connected to snap that scoreless drought, the Vikings went on a 13-6 run to take a 77-49 advantage. Brady Bowers hit a three to make it 77-54. That was followed by another scoreless stretch for UHSP while Missouri Valley scored 13 consecutive over a 3:45 stretch as the Vikings extended the lead to 90-54.

The first half saw the Eutectics do a solid job to keep the game within reach. Jace Lance made a jumper midway through the first as the home club jumped out to a 17-9 lead. This time, it was a 5-0 run by UHSP to pull even at 17-17, one of four ties in the first half. Jas Suvalija buried a triple to reknot things at 20-20 with 8:48 remaining in the half. 2:01 later, it was an Engelage layup that gave the Purple and Gold their first lead at 26-25. After a 27-27 tie, Kyan Arrandale leveled things at 29-29 with a jumper at 5:10. With 3:07 left in the half, it was still a tight game when RJ Stecker connected from deep to make it 33-32 in favor of the Vikings. Missouri Valley closed the first half on a 11-2 run to give them a 10-point lead and be a bit of a foreshadowing of what was to come in the second half.

Brady Bowers paced the Eutectics with 18 points, Jas Suvalija had a dozen points and Landon Engelage added 11 points and five rebounds. Missouri Valley put four players in double-digits led by J'Luan Patterson who had 14 points, eight boards and four assists. The Vikings squeezed off 21 more shots than the Eutectics and connected at 44% compared to 36.5% for UHSP. The visitors were 10-for-29 from three for 34.5% while MVC was 6-for-23 for 26.1%. Missouri Valley dominated the battle of the boards to the tune of 62-37.

The Eutectics (0-2) are next in action on Thursday when they travel to Evansville, Indiana to meet a D-I team out of the Missouri Valley Conference in the Evansville Purple Aces for an exhibition contest. UHSP's next regular season game will be Saturday at home when they entertain Central Christian College of the Bible. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00pm.