Pittsburg, Kan. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team utilized a 20-6 run in the second half to tie the score, and eventually force overtime, but the Lions couldn't compete the comeback, falling 91-89 to Minnesota State tonight in overtime inside John Lance Arena.
CJ Carr led the Lions (0-2) with 29 points and five assists, going 11-22 from the field and 5-6 from the free-throw line.
Enis Memic had 14 points and seven boards, while
Elyjah Clark and
Koray Gilbert had 11 and ten points, respectively.
Kinzer Lambert added nine points.
MSU (1-1) had five score in double-figures, led by 22 points from Charlie Brown.
The Mavericks broke open a 7-7 tie with a bucket from Cameron Kirksey with 16:24 left in the first half to go up 9-7. That bucket sparked a 9-2 run that saw MSU lead 16-9 with 14:24 to go.
Southern got back to one (16-15) after a layup from Carr with 12:34 left, but the Mavericks' lead reached 14 (35-21) with 4:46 to go. A three from Brown gave MSU a 40-23 lead with 3:18 to go, but the Lions closed on a 9-5 lead to trail 45-34 at the break.
MSU led 54-40 with 16:07 left in the second half when the Lions went to work. A jumper from Carr got Southern within three (58-55) with 11:34 left and a three from Carr with 8:36 left tied it at 60. A layup from Memic with 8:11 left gave the Lions a 62-61 lead and another layup from Memic five minutes later gave the Lions another lead, this time at 73-72.
MSU led 78-75 with 26 seconds left in the game, but a three from Clark tied the game at 78 and sent it to overtime.
MSU opened up an 82-78 lead to start the extra period, but the Lions quickly fought back and a 5-0 run gave Southern an 83-82 lead with just over two minutes to go. The Lions lead was three after a layup from Carr with 1:08 left, but free throws from Brown and a three pointer from Kevin Krieger gave MSU an 87-86 lead with 24 seconds to go. MSU would make its free-throws down the stretch to secure the win.
The Lions led the battle in the paint with a 42-36 advantage, and Southern scored 16 second-chance points.
Southern will be back in action next Saturday, as the Lions play host to Missouri-St. Louis. Tip off from Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 3:30 pm.
