FAYETTE, MO - The Grand View men's basketball team clinched hosting their first postseason conference championship game since 2022, using a dominant first half and clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to defeat Central Methodist 77-70 on Saturday afternoon in a crucial conference road game.
The Vikings came out firing in the opening minutes. Lukas Helms opened the scoring with a jumper to give Grand View a 2-0 lead, but Central Methodist answered with a three-pointer to take a 3-2 edge. Daviyon Gaston tied it at 4-4 with a jumper, and Jaxson Young gave the Vikings a 6-5 lead with another bucket. Patrick Worrell extended the advantage to 9-5 with a three-pointer, forcing a Central Methodist timeout. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 9-9, but Helms converted two free throws to push Grand View ahead 11-9. After Central Methodist tied it again at 11-11, Worrell scored back-to-back layups to give the Vikings a 15-11 lead. Gaston added another layup to make it 17-13, and after the Eagles cut it to 17-16, Gaston hit a three-pointer assisted by O'Shawn Jones-Winslow to extend the lead to 20-16. Central Methodist closed the gap to 22-21, but Gaston's jumper kept Grand View ahead. After the Eagles briefly took a 23-22 lead, Jones-Winslow converted two free throws to tie it at 24-24. Jones-Winslow made two more free throws to give Grand View a 25-23 edge, and Helms added a layup to push it to 27-25. Gaston scored a jumper to make it 29-25, and Jones-Winslow hit two more free throws to extend the lead to 31-27. James Ogrodnik added a layup assisted by Gaston to push the advantage to 35-27, but Central Methodist answered with a three-pointer to cut it to 35-30. Young converted a layup with a foul but missed the free throw, and Jones-Winslow added another layup to make it 39-32. Young hit a buzzer-beating layup to give the Vikings a commanding 41-32 halftime lead.
Grand View came out strong to start the second half. Helms hit two free throws to extend the lead to 43-32, and after a steal by Jones-Winslow, he threw down a dunk to make it 45-32. Joe Knutson added a jumper, and Gaston scored a layup to push the Vikings' largest lead to 49-34. After Central Methodist scored, Knutson converted an offensive rebound into a layup to make it 51-38. The Eagles began to chip away, cutting the deficit to 51-42, but Jones-Winslow answered with a layup assisted by Worrell to push it back to 53-42. Central Methodist continued their rally with consecutive buckets to make it 53-47, forcing a Grand View timeout. The Vikings regained their composure as Helms hit two free throws to make it 55-48, but the Eagles kept fighting, cutting it to 55-52. After Central Methodist tied it at 56-56, Helms responded with a jumper to give Grand View a 57-56 lead. Central Methodist briefly took a 58-57 edge, but Gaston answered with back-to-back layups to push Grand View ahead 61-58. Helms added a jumper to extend it to 63-58, and Gaston hit two free throws followed by a three-pointer assisted by Helms to push the lead to 68-58. Young scored consecutive jumpers assisted by Helms to make it 72-60, but Central Methodist answered with free throws and a three-pointer to cut it to 72-65. After a turnover, the Eagles scored inside to make it 72-67 with just over two minutes remaining. Gaston converted a crucial layup to push it back to 74-67, but Central Methodist hit another three-pointer to make it 74-70 with 41 seconds left. Knutson sealed the game with a thunderous dunk assisted by Young to make it 76-70, and Gaston hit one of two free throws in the final seconds to secure the 77-70 victory.
GAME NOTES:
- Daviyon Gaston led all scorers with 28 points on 11-16 shooting, adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
- Lukas Helms contributed 14 points with 4 rebounds, going 6-6 from the free-throw line.
- Jaxson Young added 10 points with 3 rebounds.
- O'Shawn Jones-Winslow chipped in 10 points with 4 rebounds.
- Grand View shot 82.4% from the free-throw line (14-17) in the road victory.
WHAT'S NEXT? Grand View improves to 19-7 overall and 14-5 in conference play with an important road victory. The Vikings will close out the regular season at Graceland on Wednesday, February 18th as they look to build momentum heading into the postseason.
