St. Joseph, Mo. – The 22
nd ranked Missouri Southern men's basketball team got 32 points and 12 rebounds from
Cam Martin, while the team went 27-30 from the free throw line and the Lions won at Missouri Western 84-73 tonight inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Southern (17-4, 8-3 MIAA) was led by Martin's 13
th double-double of the season and sixth in a row. He went 8-of-14 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free throw line.
Parker Jennings scored 13, while
Elyjah Clark had 12,
Reggie Tharp had 11 and
Kinzer Lambert scored 10. Clark added 10 rebounds for a double-double of his own.
Western (9-12, 3-7 MIAA) got 20 points and seven rebounds from Lavon Hightower, while Bryan Hudson scored 16 and pulled down a team-high nine boards.
A pair of freebies for Martin with 14:56 left in the first half gave the Lions a 10-5 lead, while a three from Clark pushed the lead to 17-11 with 12:16 to go. Western tied the score at 20 with 8:39 left in the half, but three free throws from Jennings pushed the lead for Southern back to 25-20 just a minute later.
A three from Hightower got the Griffons within two (29-27) with 3:28 to go in the half, but the Lions went on a 6-2 run to lead 37-29 with just more than a minute to play. Southern took a 37-31 lead into the locker room at the break.
A jumper from
Braelon Walker with 13:12 left in the second half gave the Lions a 55-48 lead, but a bucket from the Griffons with just inside of ten minutes left cut the Lions' lead to one (57-56). Western again cut the lead to one with 6:52 to go, but the Lions went on a 9-2 run and led 71-63 after a pair of freebies from Martin with 2:51 to go in the game.
Southern would make its free throws down the stretch, making 15-of-16 in the final three minutes of play. The Lions shot 40 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line, making 27-of-30 in the game. Southern out rebounded the Griffons 42-38 and led for more than 35 minutes of the game.
The Lions are back in action on Saturday as Southern travels to 2
nd ranked Northwest Missouri. Tip off from Bearcat Arena is set for 3:30 pm.
