Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team trailed by 12 at one point in the game, but couldn't pull out the win and the Lions fell 85-82 to visiting Fort Hays State. 

Southern (14-11, 11-8 MIAA) was led in scoring by Taevaunn Prince as the senior from Toronto scored 21 points and added six rebounds and five assists. Charlie Brown scored 15 points, while Austin Wright had 14 on four three-pointers. Taylor Luster had 11 points and eight assists on the night. 

Hays (16-8, 10-8 MIAA) had five score in double-figures led by 24 points from Rob Davis. 

The Tigers led by 12 on multiple occasions in the first half, the last coming with 6:33 left in the first when Craig Nicholson put in a pair of free throws. 

The Lions, however, chipped away at the lead and a three from Wright with 58 seconds left cut the Tigers' lead to just three (42-39) as the teams went into the locker room. 

Coming out of the break, a three from Prince and a pair of free throws from Brown put the Lions on top 46-44 with 17:21 to go. Southern led by five (59-54) with 12:05 left in the second half after a free throw from Prince and led by three (63-60) after a pair of freebies from DJ Feitl with 8:51 left. 

The Tigers, however, went on a 16-4 run and led by nine (76-67) after a layup from Davis with 5:28 to go. A free throw from Prince with 3:16 left cut the lead to one (78-77) and concluded a 10-2 Southern run and the Lions tied the game at 80 on a three from Brown with 2:33 to go. A layup from Marshall the next trip down gave the Lions an 82-80 lead, but Hays would score the final five points to put the game away. 

The Lions shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three-point line in the game. Southern made all 17 of its free throws in the game. 

The Lions will be back in action on Thursday night when Southern travels to Bolivar to take on Southwest Baptist. Tip off from the Meyer Sports Center is slated for 7:30 pm.