MARYVILLE, Mo. — A pair of second half runs for No. 3 ranked Northwest Missouri turned out to be too much as the Missouri Southern men’s basketball team fell 83-69 on the road today inside Bearcat Arena.
Southern (11-8, 11-8 MIAA) was led by Lawson Jenkins as the freshman scored 26 points on 5-of-10 shooting from long-range and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Jenkins added six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Yagizhan Selcuk had a career-high 11 points as he played 23 minutes off the bench and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and went 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Stan Scott scored 11 points, while Christian Bundy added eight.
Northwest (17-1, 17-1 MIAA) had three in double-figures, led by 31 points from Trevor Hudgins.
The two teams traded baskets early on before a bucket from Cam Martin put the Lions up 6-5 about three minutes into the first half. A three from Scott with 16:38 gave the Lions back the lead at 9-8, but the Bearcats went on a 10-3 run and led 18-11 with 11:10 to go.
A layup from Selcuk tied the score at 18 and capped a 7-0 run for the Lions with 9:26 to go, while a bucket from Winston Dessesow with just 2:15 left gave the Lions a 33-30 lead. Northwest went ahead 34-33 after a bucket from Hudgins with 1:31 left and led 37-30 with 36 seconds to go, but a layup from Jenkins with 10 left on the game clock got the Lions within two (37-35). The Bearcats, however, got a buzzer-beating three from Hawkins to go up 40-35 at the break.
A pair of free throws from Bundy two minutes in got the Lions within three (40-37), but the Bearcats pushed ahead and led 52-41 with 13:20 on the clock. A three from the Bearcats put Northwest up 58-45 two minutes later, but the Lions went on a 10-3 run and got within six (61-55) after a three from Jenkins with 8:23 on the clock.
Northwest answered that run with a 10-0 run to get back up by 16 (71-55), before a pair of freebies from Scott stopped the run. A three from Jenkins got the Lions within 11 (75-64) and another three from Jenkins made the score 76-67 with 51 seconds to go, capping a 12-5 run by the Lions.
Southern shot 41 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. The Lions out rebounded the Bearcats 38-32 but couldn’t overcome a hot-shooting Bearcat squad that made 18 three pointers, shooting 53 percent from beyond the arc.
The Lions will be back in action a week from today with a matchup against Pittsburg State. Tip off from Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is set for 3:30 p.m.
