Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball program had four in double-figures, including a double-double from LJ Ross and the Lions took out visiting Nebraska-Kearney 89-71 on Robert Corn Court, inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. 
 
Southern (6-2, 2-0 MIAA) was led by Ross' night with 10 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. The 19 boards is the most in a game since Slim Magee had 20 against Nebraska-Kearney in the 2014 MIAA Basketball Tournament. CJ Carr had 20 points on 7-10 shooting, while Elyjah Clark had 17 points on 6-9 from the field and 3-4 from long-range. JJ Crattit scored 16 and added six boards in 18 minutes of play, while Vince Fritz scored eight points off the bench. 
 
Kearney (6-3, 1-1 MIAA) was led by 21 points from Ty Danielson as Isaiah McKay scored 16. 
 
A bucket from Cratit and a three from Clark had the Lions with a 5-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game, forcing a UNK timeout. The Lions lead was 17-5 after a three from Carr with 16:01 left in the first half, and the lead reached 17 (22-5) after a tip in from Cratit with 14:38 left in the first.
 
The Lopers cut the lead to 13 (24-11) after a layup from Juhl with 12:16 left in the first, and a pair of free throws from Danielson for the Lopers, paired with a fast-break layup from Sam Morris made the score 30-17 with 9:20 left.
 
A three pointer from Clark with 1:16 to go in the half made the score 47-35, and a running layup from Vince Fritz made the halftime score 49-38.
 
A free throw from Ross made the score 54-39 with 16:58 to go in the second half.  A jumper from Cratit with 12:58 made the lead 12 (60-48), and a pair of freebies from Dexter Frisbie made the score 64-48 with just over 12 minutes to go.
 
A jumper from Cratit at the free throw line made the score 68-51 with 11:04 to go and the lead reached 20 (74-54) after a pair of freebies from Cratit. A layup from Frisbie with 1:15 left made the score 89-71, which proved to be the final tally.

The Lions shot 48 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free throw line. Southern out rebounded the Lopers 46-29, including a 13-6 advantage on the offensive boards where the Lions had an 18-4 advantage in second-chance points. 

Southern will be back in action on December 8 traveling to Lincoln University. Tip off from Jason Gym is slated for 7:30 pm.