Greyhounds Set Record with 15th Victory

By Chuck Livingston

The Evening Times Sports Editor

MSCC Sports Information

WEST MEMPHIS, Arkansas --- For one glorious stretch of about 10 minutes last night, the MSCC Greyhounds could do no wrong. 

As a result, MSCC was able to vanquish Champion Baptist, 105-75, and make some history along the way. 

The 15th win in 2015 is a new program high for MSCC, topping the 14 games that the team won just last season. 

The Greyhounds were led by four different scorers hitting for double-digits, led by Fort Smith native Joe Dye's 22 points. Kaylon Tappin was next up with 18 points, Shaquille Culbreath went for 17 and Justin Harris finished with 14 of his own. Harris also led the Greyhounds in rebounds with 8, narrowly missing a double-double. Jonesboro sophomore guard Tony White handed out 6 assists. 

MSCC led just 44-36 at halftime, but the Greyhounds canned their first 7 shots of the second half and hit the 10-minute mark of the game with an 80-52 lead. The Greyhounds' lead would crest at 32 points late in the game's second half. 

"We got a big win against them up there in the first game and I think we kind of took that for granted," MSCC head coach Chris Parker said after the game of his team's slow start.

In that first half, Champion Baptist rallied from an early 7-2 deficit to play with MSCC until the final 3 minutes of the half. 

With the game tied at 33, MSCC was able to finish the game's first 20 minutes by outscoring their visitors 11-3.

That run helped ignite MSCC into their big second half.

"We really talked about playing solid defense and not gambling as much," Parker explained. "We played a lazy brand of defense in the first half. It was just a matter of throwing out some reminders, so to speak." 

The Greyhounds (15-9 overall) didn't just hit from the field, however. They also took care of business from the free throw line as MSCC hit 9 of 10 of their charities in the second half. 

When the MSCC offense wasn't shooting freebies, Dye had what was arguably his best performance in an MSCC uniform, hitting four consecutive three-pointers in the second half, part of 18 in that frame. 

"He's (Dye) definitely a guy that we count on as a shooter," Parker added. 

MSCC shot an unconscious 23 of 32 from the field in the game's final 20 minutes. On the other side of the ledger, the Greyhounds harassed Champion Baptist into a 13 of 33 showing in the same frame. 

The significance of MSCC's 15 wins was not lost on Parker. 

"15 is a nice milestone," admitted Parker. "Just for the sake of the fact that every year through the past four years, we've improved our winning percentage, and hopefully we continue to do that."

MSCC has three games left, and they're all at home. Their next contest is at home on Saturday, February 14 when they host their regional rival North Arkansas. The women's game will tip at 2 p.m., with the men starting at approximately 4 p.m.

If MSCC beats North Arkansas then they will host the Region 2 championship game at The Dog House. 

Admission for the Valentine's Day game against North Arkansas will be free "for the love of the game," said Parker.