ALAMOSA, Colorado — In a Saturday afternoon game against Cameron University, the Grizzlies Men's Basketball team won its third straight game to move its record to 4-1. The final score of today's game was 88-81 to give the Grizzlies their fourth win of the young season.
The story of today's game was the Grizzlies' ability to play strong defense while maintaining the great offense they had early in the season. Overall, the Grizzlies kept Cameron's offense to 39.1% shooting from the floor, while they shot 45.6% themselves. The primary difference in today's game, which enabled Cameron to remain competitive, was the substantial gap in 3-point shooting efficiency. The Grizzlies struggled with their 3-point shot, going 3-30, whereas Cameron made 10-33 from beyond the arc. Without Cameron's ability to hit 3-pointers tonight, the game could have easily turned into a blowout in favor of the Grizzlies. However, due to Cameron's success and the Grizzlies' shooting struggles, the game remained close, ending with a final margin of 7 points.
Although the Grizzlies struggled from beyond the 3-point line, it did not affect the outcome, as their defense and rebounding kept them in the lead throughout tonight's game. The Grizzlies managed to force Cameron into 19 turnovers, including 11 steals, with Luke Williams leading the defense with 3 steals. Additionally, the Grizzlies out-rebounded Cameron, with 53 rebounds compared to Cameron's 45. Wyatt Helming led the team in rebounding, finishing with 14 rebounds and 17 points, earning a double-double in today's game. This is Helming's third double-double in the last four games, and his 14 rebounds mark his fourth consecutive game with double-digit rebounds. Helming's strong start to the season continues, as he currently averages a double-double through the Grizzlies' first five games.
Following the lead of Helming's great performance tonight were Luke Williams, Jarmell Johnson, and Emilek Jallow. All three Grizzlies scored double-digit points in tonight's game, with Williams finishing tied with 17 points, with Helming leading the way for the Grizzlies, with Johnson and Jallow following close behind, with Johnson finishing with 14 and Jallow finishing with 13 on the night. Williams, along with Helming, had a great overall night as he was able to collect 6 rebounds and 5 assists along with his 17 points and 3 steals. With the leadership of their two star seniors in Helming and Williams, the Grizzlies were able to put the final touches on tonight's game to take their third straight win and fourth win of the season.
Up next for the Grizzlies will be a short road trip to Texas next weekend for two games against Dallas Baptist University and UT Dallas. The game against Dallas Baptist will be first, held next Friday, November 28th, at 6 PM MST. The game will be played in Dallas, Texas, at the home of Dallas Baptist, and will be a great opportunity for the Grizzlies to continue their hot play to start the season before conference play starts at the beginning of December.
