Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern Men's Basketball team fell victim to a big run tonight as the Pittsburg State Gorillas won 95-82 on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
 
Southern (13-11, 10-8 MIAA) was led by Lawson Jenkins with 24 points as he went 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-10 from long-range. Stan Scott scored 15 points, while Winston Dessesow added 13. RJ Smith had eight points and ten boards, while Avery Taggart and Christian Bundy scored eight each.
 
Pitt (7-18, 5613 MIAA) was led by Magic Reliford with 24 points, while RJ Lawrence scored 21.
 
The Lions started on fire, leading 13-2 after a jumper from Winston Dessesow with 14:23 left on the clock. A three from Jenkins with 10:41 left in the half made the score 23-15, Lions, while a pair of freebies from Taggart with 8:21 to go made the score 30-18.
 
The Gorillas, however, went on to reel off 24-straight points and led 42-30 with 2:52 left in the half. A layup from Alex Jones stopped the run and a three from Jenkins got the Lions within nine (44-35) with two minutes to go. Pitt scored four-straight to end the half and led 48-35 at the break.
 
Pitt led 63-42 with 12:15 left in the 2^nd half, but back-to-back steals and back-to-back three's from Dessesow and Jenkins cut the lead to 16 (72-56) with seven minutes to go. Five-straight points from Scott with 1:50 left cut the lead to ten (83-73) and a three from Dessesow with 1:10 to go got the Lions within nine (87-78).
 
That would be as close as the Lions would get.
 
The Lions shot 44 percent from the field, but got to the free throw line just nine times (7-of-9) compared to 32 attempts for the Gorillas. Southern scored 21 points off 13 PSU turnovers and had a 38-32 advantage in the paint.
 
The two teams will go at it again on Saturday, this time in Pittsburg at John Lance Arena. Tip off is set for 3:30 pm.