Wichita, Kan. -- The Missouri Southern basketball team hung tough with Division I Wichita State and led 19-18 early in the first half, but the Lions fell 90-58 tonight in front of 8,000 fans at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita. 

Southern was led in scoring by RJ Smith who had 15 points on 6-of-13 from the field and added eight rebounds, while going 2-of-6 from long-range. Lawson Jenkins and Alex Jones scored 11 points each with Jenkins hitting three three-pointers and Jones coming up with three steals and a pair of assists. Christian Bundy scored seven and pulled down five boards. 

Stan Scott had five rebounds and a team-high four assists, while Winston Dessesow scored five points of his own. 

WSU was led in scoring by Ricky Council IV with 15 points, while Moris Udeze and Qua Grant scored 11 points each. 

The two teams traded points to star the game, but the Shockers opened up a 13-7 lead with 14:44 left after a three from Tyson Etienne. The WSU lead was 18-11 at the 13-18 mark, but the Lions went to work and went on an 8-0 run capped by a bucket from Smith with 9:32 left to give Southern a 19-18 lead, its only of the night. 

The Lions got back to two points (26-24) after a three from Smith at the six-minute mark, but the Shockers went on a 9-0 run and eventually pushed the run to 20-2, leading 46-26, before a bucket from Ndongo Ndaw stopped the run. That point came on a fast-break as Jones hit Ndaw for the bucket as the halftime buzzer sounded. 

Southern opened the second half ona. 9-2 run capped by a three from Smith to cut the deficit to 13 (50-37), but that would be as close as the Lions got. 

MSSU shot 33 percent from the field and forced 15 WSU turnovers scoring 19 points off of the miscues. 

Southern will open up the regular season on November 12-13 as the Lions play in the Midwest Classic in Kansas City inside Municipal Auditorium. The Lions will take on Upper Iowa on the 12th and Southern Nazarene on the 13th.