Bolivar, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team fell behind 37-21 at the half and couldn't overcome the early deficit in an 84-62 loss at Southwest Baptist tonight. 

Southern (14-9, 8-6 MIAA) was led in scoring with 21 points from CJ Carr. JJ Cratit scored 13, while Lawrence Brown had 12 points and nine rebounds. 

SBU (13-10, 6-8 MIAA) got 27 points from Logan Hovey as four Bearcats scored in double-figures. 

The Bearcats opened up an early 17-6 lead with 14:49 left in the first half and led by 15 (29-14) with 5:31 to go in the first. The lead reached 18 (37-19) before a jumper from Carr with 31 seconds left, made the halftime score 37-21, SBU. 

A bucket from Hovey with 14:39 left in the second half gave SBU a 48-27 lead and a layup with 7:45 to go gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 25 (67-42). 

Southern got to within 16 on multiple occasions, the last coming after a layup from Kinzer Lambert with 2:29 left, but SBU closed the game on an 8-4 run to provide the final outcome. 

The Lions shot 36 percent from the field and 22 percent from the three-point line, while making just 67 percent of their free throws. The Lions held a 17-8 advantage on the offensive boards and outscored SBU 23-9 in second chance points, however the Bearcats out scored Southern 44-28 in the paint. 

Southern will be back in action this Saturday when the Lions travel to Central Missouri. Tip off from the Multipurpose Building is slated for 3:30 pm.