Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball team mounted a furious comeback late, but the Lions couldn't get past the sixth-ranked Truman State Bulldogs and fell 95-89 in the final game of the Freeman Sports Medicine/Chris Tucker Memorial Classic.
 
Southern (2-2) picked up a career night from both RJ Smith and Avery Taggart. Smith finished with 25 points and ten rebounds, while Taggart added 18 points on a perfect night, going 6-of-six from the field, 4-of-4 from the three-point line and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Christian Bundy had 13 points, while Stan Scott added nine.
 
Truman (4-0) was led by Cade McKnight with 24 points.
 
The Lions opened a 17-9 lead with 11:24 left in the first half after a layup from Scott. The Bulldogs answered with a 21-2 run to lead 30-19 with 5:30 to go in the half. The Lions closed the half on an 11-9 run and trailed 39-30 going into the locker room.
 
Southern started the second half on fire and the Lions quickly got back in the game after a 7-0 run that was capped by a pair of free throws from Bundy. Truman opened an 11-point lead with 13:31 to go and led by 12 (68-56) with eight minutes to go.
 
The Bulldog lead was 15 with 4:36 to go and by 14 (82-68) with three minutes left, but the Lions went on a 16-4 run to get within four points (84-88) after a bucket from Taggart with 56 seconds left in the game. A three from Taggart got the Lions within five (94-89), but that would be as close as the Lions would get.
 
The Lions shot 46 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line. The Lions forced 16 turnovers and scored 24 points off the miscues.
 
Southern will be back in action on Tuesday evening as the Lions travel to Arkansas Tech for a matchup with the Wonderboys. Tip off from Tucker Coliseum is set for 7 pm.