Maryville, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team out scored No. 25 Northwest Missouri 41-40 in the second half, but the Lions' late comeback was just short in a 76-75 loss in Maryville tonight. 

Southern (11-9, 8-6 MIAA) was led by 31 points from Taevaunn Prince as he went 10-16 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line. Prince now has 200 free throws on the season and is 52 away from tying the MIAA single-season record. Charlie Brown had 16 points and also went 7-7 from the free throw line, while Bruce Marshall had six blocks and five rebounds off the bench. 

Northwest (14-5, 11-3 MIAA) had three score in double-figures, led by 21 points from Justin Pitts. 

The Lions trailed 11-4 early on after a three pointer from the Bearcats' Zach Schneider with 15:05 left in the first half. The Northwest lead was 10 (23-13) with 9:25 left, but Southern went on a 17-7 run to tie the game at 30 after a pair of freebies from Brown. 

A layup from Brown with 1:38 left tied the game again and the Bearcats would have a 36-34 lead at the break after a pair of free throws from Prince cut the lead to two. 

Northwest started the second half hot as the Bearcats led by 12 after a layup from Pitts made the score 53-41 with 13:10 left in the half. The lead was 11 twice in the half, the second time coming with 4:22 left to go, but the Lions chipped away at the lead in the final minutes. 

A three from Browwn with 51 seconds to go got Southern to within two (71-69) and a three from Austin Wright with 13 seconds left gave Northwest a 75-72 lead. But after Pitts made one of two free throws to get the lead back to four, a last-second three pointer from Prince was not enough to tie the game. 

Southern shot 52 percent from the field and 54 percent from long-range, while making all eight of its free throws. Northwest also shot 52 percent from the field, while chipping in 44 percent from the three-point line and 85 percent from the charity stripe. 

The Lions will be back in action this Saturday as Southern plays host to Missouri Western. Tip off from Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 3 pm.