Kansas City, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball team trailed by two at the half to Minnesota State, but the Mavericks shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and the Lions fell 87-73 today in the opening round of the Central Region Challenge inside historic Municipal Auditorium.
Southern (0-1) was led by
Avery Taggart as he played 35 minutes and went 4-of-11 from long-range to score 18 points.
Winston Dessesow made three from downtown as he scored 13 points, while
Ndongo Ndaw had a career-high 11 points and
Sam Thompson scored ten points and added six rebounds.
Minnesota State (1-0) was led by Harrison Braudis with 24 points, while Malik Willingham added 19.
The Lions shot 37 percent from the field and 35 percent from long-range. Southern had a 16-10 advantage on the offensive boards and led 13-7 in second-chance points.
Taggart had a pair of three-pointers early on to put the Lions up 12-5 with 16 minutes to go in the opening half. A layup from
Tyriqe Jackson gave the Lions a 21-16 lead with ten minutes to go, but the Mavericks got a jumper from Willingham with 5:41 to go to put MSU up 26-25.
A three from Braudis with two minutes on the clock put MSU up 35-29, but the Lions closed the half on a 7-3 run to get within two (38-36) at the break.
A jumper from Kelby Kramer three and a half minutes into the second half put the Mavericks up 11 (52-41), and a layup from Kyreese Willingham gave the Mavs a 74-54 advantage with 6:25 to go.
The Lions will be back in action tomorrow evening as Southern takes on Winona State. Tip off from Municipal is set for 5 pm.
