The Fort Scott Community College Greyhounds squared off against the Neosho County Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Arnold Arena. Coming into the game, the Panthers were the highest scoring team in the Jayhawk East conference, while the Greyhounds were the number one defensive team in the Jayhawk East DII conference.
The Greyhound defense was stingy throughout the first half, giving up only 44 points, to a team that averaged 111 coming into Saturdays contest. Prince Samuels had a strong first half to keep the Hounds close, with 13 first half points, making 6 of 10 field goal attempts. Jaylynn McCormack came off the bench to spark the Greyhound offense, making 2 three pointers to close the half.
Down by 8 at the half, the Greyhounds came out of the locker room slow, allowing the Panthers to capitalize with a 19-9 run in the first 5 minutes. The lead was soon up over 20, with the game looking to be a blowout. A quick time out by Greyhound's head coach Michael Cook allowed the team a chance to regroup. They responded with a run of their own over the next 5 minutes to cut what was once a 20 point deficit in half.
With 5 minutes remaining, the Greyhounds trailed 78-68, but would not get any closer. Prince Samuels Finished with a career high 25 points and added 9 rebounds. Jaylynn McCormack also had a career night, scoring 19 points, including 5 three point makes. Kevin House added a double-double, with 16 points and 10 assists.
"I thought the game plan was perfect and worked for the most part, we had some moments in the first half where we got away from what we were doing well and they had a 9-0 run and that put us in the hole. The second half, we got back on track again and played hard but shots did not fall for us. Overall, we are growing and getting better each game and hopefully we will peak at the right time for conference and region play," stated Head Coach Michael Cook.
House moved up to second all-time in Greyhound history in assists, passing former Greyhound Brandon Daugherty. House, with 191 career assists, trails only Julian Mills' school record of 311.
The Greyhounds fall to 4-9 with the 93-78 loss to Neosho County (10-1) and will Host Central Christian JV at home, Monday December 9th at 7:30.