'Hounds win home opener

Fort Scott Community College guard Jamill Harris moves upcourt in transition during the second half of the Greyhounds' home opener against the MidAmerica Nazarene University junior varsity Wednesday night. Harris scored 20 points, dished five assists and picked up four steals as FSCC took a 92-69 victory (Fort Scott Community College photo/Kathleen Hinrichs).

Five Greyhounds scored in double figures as Fort Scott Community College's men took a 92-69 win over the MidAmerica Nazarene junior varsity in their home opener at Arnold Arena Wednesday.

Arsenio Williams, the only returning starter, had a double-double, scoring 19 points on nine-of-10 field-goal shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Jamil Harris and Kyle Grant, both freshmen, scored 20 points each to lead the way for Fort Scott, which gained its first victory of the season in four games. William Bland added 13 points and Brandon Kinnie scored 10 for the 'Hounds.

The visitors were a stubborn bunch early -- games such as these stopped being easy a few years ago -- and the Pioneers even held a slim lead a couple of times early in the first half.

But Harris and Williams each scored a couple of baskets during a 10-2 run that gave the Greyhounds some breathing room, 29-19, with 7:30 to go in the first half.

An 8-0 run later in the half, topped by Bland's layup, extended the lead to 39-24 with three minutes to go.

It was a 49-31 lead at halftime as the Greyhounds made 69 percent of their shots from the field in the first half on 22 of 32. MidAmerica's respectable 48 percent on 13 of 27 paled in comparison to the red-hot shooting of Fort Scott.

The pace slowed a bit in the second half but the outcome was never in doubt. The closest MANU would get was 65-50 with 8:56 remaining and the Pioneers scored consecutive baskets only once in the second half.

For the game, Fort Scott finished at 57 percent from the floor on 38 of 67. The 'Hounds only attempted five three-point goals as their transition and inside games were doing enough of an effective job that it wasn't necessary to shoot a lot of threes.

MANU finished at 45 percent on 28 of 62 and made four of 16 shots from three-point range. Andrew Crotty, Mark Ball and Johnathan Knipker each scored 12 points to lead the Pioneers.

Fort Scott had a handy 43-31 advantage on the boards. Bland brought down an additional nine rebounds for the 'Hounds.

Harris led Fort Scott in assists with five and steals with four.

The Greyhounds committed only 13 turnovers to MANU's 20.

The Greyhounds will play host to the Ottawa University JV at 7 p.m. tonight at Arnold Arena. After that, they will be idle for nearly two weeks until they host the Benedictine JV on Nov. 27. That will be their last home game in pre-conference play.

NOTES -- Fort Scott has a 38-6 record when scoring more than 90 points since the 1994-95 season....

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE JV: Crotty 6-8 0-2 12, Erwin 1-1 0-0 2, Keyeski 3-6 0-0 7, Holl 2-6 0-0 4, Sharp 2-8 0-0 4, Thomas 2-6 1-2 7, Ball 5-11 2-4 12, Howard 2-3 2-2 6, Black 1-3 0-0 3, Knipker 4-10 4-6 12. TOTALS: 28-62 9-16 69.

FORT SCOTT: Harris 9-15 2-2 20, Stokes 0-4 0-0 0, Kinnie 4-10 2-6 10, Grant 7-10 6-6 20, Hopkins 1-1 2-2 4, Williams 9-10 1-2 19, Brown 2-6 2-2 6, Bland 6-11 1-4 13. TOTALS: 38-67 16-24 92.

Halftime: Fort Scott, 49-31.

Three-point field goals: MANU JV 4-16 (Thomas 2-5, Black 1-2, Keyeski 1-3, Knipker 0-1, Ball 0-2, Sharp 0-3), Fort Scott 0-5 (Harris 0-1, Grant 0-1, Williams 0-1, Stokes 0-2).

Total fouls: MANU JV 20, Fort Scott 20. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: MANU JV 31 (Holl 8), Fort Scott 43 (Williams 14). Assists: MANU JV 18 (Knipker 5), Fort Scott 13 (Harris 5).