Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern men's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Missouri Western squad as the Lions dropped an MIAA matchup with the Griffons 79-65 inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 
Southern (4-4, 0-2 MIAA) was led by Vinson Sigmon Jr. as he scored 22 points and added six rebounds, three assists and two steals. The 22 points tie a career-high and are a season-high for him. Christian Bundy scored nine points, while Ndongo Ndaw had seven points and nine rebounds.
 
Western (5-2, 2-0 MIAA) was led by Julius Dixon and Will Eames as the pair scored 14 points each. The Griffons shot 63 percent from the field and 61 percent from long-range.
 
The Griffons started the game on a 13-6 run and led 24-9 with 11:13 left on the clock before a layup from Lawson Jenkins stopped the run. A bucket from Western with 9:21 to go made the score 30-13, but a three from Sigmon cut the lead to 15 (35-20) with 5:21 on the clock. A layup from Sigmon with 1:21 provided the halftime tally (43-27).
 
Western shot 75 percent from the field in the first half and 78 percent from long-range.
 
A three-pointer from Ndaw with 13:32 left in the second half, his first attempted three-pointer in his career, cut the lead to ten (51-41) but that would be as close as the Lions got in the half.
 
Southern shot 42 percent from the field and 50 percent from long-range in the second-half, making six three's in the half.
 
The Lions will be back in action next week as Southern travels to 7^th ranked Central Oklahoma on December 8. Tip off from Hamilton Fieldhouse is set for 7:30 pm.