Posted: Nov 19, 2015
At the season’s outset, new head coach Terry Collins opined that his young Archers team was likely to excel at shooting the basketball. Mid-range, long range, free throws—four games into the season, the veteran coach has been as on the mark with his prediction as his team has been in finding the bottom of the net.
He also predicted the team had a long way to go in its defensive performances. Unfortunately for the Archers, he was right on that front, too.
The Archers connected on 48 percent of their shots from the field on Wednesday evening at Missouri State University-West Plains. West Plains was slightly better, however, draining exactly half of their 54 field-goal attempts, en route to a 77-71 win over the Archers.
Three Archers reached double-figures in scoring, led by sophomore guard Nate Rigmaiden, who scored 19 points on a 6-for-10 showing from the field. STLCC did receive a boost with the contributions of forward William Caldwell, who piled up 16 points and a team-most eight rebounds in his Archers debut. Ultimately, however, the Archers were turned away by a mistake-averse opponent. West Plains was particularly stingy in their control of the basketball, turning it over just seven times, compared to the Archers’ 14 giveaways.
The Archers (1-3) return to action Friday night at home against Arkansas State-Mid South. Game time is 7 pm.