Warrensburg, Mo. – A last-second three for the Missouri Southern men's basketball team didn't fall and the Lions dropped a heartbreaker inside the Multipurpose building, falling to Central Missouri 75-74 on the road.
 
The Lions (11-9, 8-6 MIAA) were led by Stan Scott and RJ Smith as Scot finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Smith had 13 points and ten rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. Avery Taggart had 14 points, while Winston Dessesow and Christian Bundy had 12 points each.
 
Central (10-9, 7-8 MIAA) had a pair of players score in double-figures as both Ja'Cor Nelson and Cameron Hunter scored 23.
 
The Mules got a three from Hunter with 15:14 left and led 12-7 early on, but a 6-0 run by the Lions capped by a layup from Taggart with 12:24 left gave the Lions a 13-12 lead.
 
A three from Scott with 9:21 on the clock gave the Lions a 21-17 lead and a three from Taggart made the score 26-22, Lions with six minutes to go. The Lions led 30-24 after a layup from Bundy with four to go and a pair of free throws from Smith with 2:34 on the clock kept the lead at six (32-26). The Mules, however, closed the half on a 6-3 run as a last-second three from Dessesow gave the Lions a 35-32 advantage at the break.
 
A layup from Bundy two minutes into the second half gave the Lions a 42-35 lead and a dunk from Bundy with 15:41 on the clock kept the lead at seven (44-37). A jumper from Alex Jones with 11 on the clock made the score 52-45, Southern, but a pair of free throws from Hunter with nine minutes to go gave the Mules a 54-52 lead.
 
A layup from Smith with 6:11 on the clock gave the Lions a 64-61 lead but the two teams traded leads for the next four minutes before a layup from Smith tied the game at 70 with two minutes left.
 
Two freebies from Scot gave the Loins a 72-70 lead with a minute and a half left, but a three-point play from Nelson pushed the Mules back ahead 73-72 the next trip down. A pair of free throws from Taggart with 19 seconds left gave the Lions a 74-73 lead, but Hunter pushed the Mules back on top with a pair of freebies with five to go.
 
The Lions got the ball across half court and called timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Taggart got the ball at the right side of the three-point line and was left open but his three-point attempt wouldn't fall and the Mules sealed the win.
 
Southern shot 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from the three point line, while making 12-of-13 of its three pointers. The Lions had a 36-30 advantage in rebounds and 19-12 in second-chance points.
 
The Lions will be back at it on Monday night as Southern travels to Lincoln for a 7:30 pm matchup with the Blue Tigers inside Jason Gym.