WICHITA, Kan. — The trio of Kyle Younge, Cam Martin and Stan Scott combined to score 63 points as the Missouri Southern men’s basketball team defeated Newman 82-79 on Saturday in MIAA action inside Fugate Gymnasium.
No. 21 Southern improved to 2-0.
Young scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers, to lead the Lions. Martin added 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Martin also grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out seven assists on the day he surpassed 1,500 points scored at MSSU. Scott contributed a career-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
The Lions, who led 43-27 at halftime, made 32-of-66 field goal attempts (48.5 percent). Southern hit 11 treys and out-rebounded the Jets 43-34.
Branden Bunn led Newman (0-1) with 23 points. The Jets shot 43 percent (28-of-65), including 14-of-33 from long distance.
The Lions led by 21 with 19:20 remaining in the contest, but the Jets put together a furious comeback attempt.
Newman pulled within two with 39 seconds left. But Christian Bundy hit one free throw with 18 seconds remaining, stopping a 10-0 Newman run. The Jets misfired on a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Southern returns to action on Tuesday night at Central Missouri.
NEWMAN WOMEN, 55-51
For the second straight outing, the Missouri Southern women suffered a close setback, as Newman held on late for a 55-51 win over the Lions.
The game was deadlocked with just over a minute to play when Southern’s Amaya Johns hit two go-ahead free throws to give the Lions a 51-49 lead.
Newman’s Brooke Haney hit a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left before the visitors turned the ball over with 14 seconds remaining.
In the final seconds, Newman made three late free throws while the Lions misfired a pair of jumpers from beyond the arc.
Johns scored a team-high 13 points for Southern, while Madi Stokes and Kaitlin Hunnicutt added 10 points apiece. Carley Turnbull scored nine. Stokes had eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Southern made 18-of-54 field goal attempts (33 percent), including 4-of-18 3-point attempts.
Newman won the game despite shooting 28 percent from the field (16-of-57). The Jets (1-0) made 6-of-22 treys and 17-of-22 free throws.
Rylee Meloy and Haney scored 10 points apiece for Newman. Neosho product Makayla Hayes added seven points.
The Lions led 9-7 at the end of the first period and 26-16 at halftime. Southern’s lead was down to two, 40-38, at the end of the third quarter.
Southern (0-2) is at Central Missouri at 5:30 on Tuesday night.
