Maryville, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's basketball team had four score in double-figures and hung tight at No. 4 ranked Northwest Missouri, but the Lions fell 82-71 tonight inside Bearcat Arena. 

Southern (11-8, 8-5 MIAA) was led in scoring by Stan Scott with 16 points and six rebounds, while he dished out three assists. RJ Smith had 14 points and three boards off the bench in 20 minutes of play, while Winston Dessesow scored 11 and Lawson Jenkins added ten. Christian Bundy had nine points and six rebounds. 

Northwest (20-2, 13-1 MIAA) was led by Trevor Hudgins with 24 points. 

Both teams were cold from the field to open the game with nearly three minutes going by before the first points were scored. The Bearcats had a few five-point leads early on, the last coming at 11:40 before a three from Hudgins pushed the lead to 18-10 with ten minutes to go. 

The Lions scored five-straight on a layup from Scott and a three-point play from Smith, but the lead was 11 for the Bearcats (30-19) with 5:47 to go. Southern cut the lead to six (33-27) with three minutes to go and a layup from Scott as time expired in the half made the score at the break, 38-31, Northwest. 

The Bearcats led by as many as 23 in the second half (72-49) with four minutes to go, but the Lions pushed late and closed the game on a 22-10 run to make the final deficit 12 points. 

Southern shot 42 percent from the field and 43 percent from long-range in the game, making 77 percent of its free throws. The Lions out rebounded Northwest 31-30, including a 13-5 advantage on the offensive boards. The Lions had a 16-9 advantage in second-chance points and the Lions' bench out scored Northwest Missouri 24-18. 

Southern will be back in action this Saturday as the Lions travel to Central Missouri. Tip off from the Multipurpose Building is set for 3 pm.