Maryville, Mo. - The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will begin conference play Thursday, November 30 as they travel to Maryville, Missouri to take on the Northwest Missouri Bearcats. 

Game Information
Teams: Missouri Southern (2-4) vs #15 Northwest Missouri (3-2)
Date: November 30
Tip-Off: 7:30 PM
Location: Maryville, Mo.
Site: Bearcat Arena
Series Record: MSSU trails 24-43 | 2/25/23 NWMSU victory 75-64 most recently

Coaches
MSSU: Sam McMahon | 2nd season at MSSU | 19-17 record
NWMSU: Ben McCollum | 15th season at NWMSU | 368-88 record

Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - 101.7 The Vault
Live Audio/Video/Stats - https://www.mssulions.com/coverage
Lions on Facebook:  Facebook.com/mssumbb
Lions on Twitter: @mssumensbball; @mososports
Lions on Instagram: @mssumensbball

Scouting the Lions
Missouri Southern is off to a 2-4 start to the 2023-24 season. They began the year with a split in their opening tournament, falling to MSU Moorhead 99-81, but taking down Bemidji State 69-61. In their first home game, the Lions handled Central Christian 92-56. MSSU fell in both contests at the Double Tree Thanksgiving Classic last week. Illinois Springfield won the first game 96-77, and Drury held off Missouri Southern 76-70 in the second game. Most recently, the Lions fell to the Rockhurst Hawks in their final non-conference contest. 

Darius Dawson Darius Dawson continues to lead the Lions in scoring, averaging 11.5 per game on 56.3% shooting from the field. Cam Williams is also averaging double digit points with 10.3 per game. He leads the team in steals with 8, and has 4 blocks on the year.

The rebounding category is led by Dawson with a total of 45, averaging 7.5 per game. On Saturday, Sam Thompson grabbed his 200th rebound and now sits at 203 in his career.

Vinson Sigmon Jr. enters Saturday's contest just 6 points shy of 1,000 in his career. His vision has been solid this year, leading the Lions with 13 assists so far. 

Scouting the Bearcats
The Bearcats were ranked #1 in the NABC Preseason Poll after a 31-3 record in 2022-23. Last year, Northwest was MIAA Champions in both the regular season and the tournament. They were picked first in both of this year's MIAA preseason polls. So far this year, the Bearcats have a 3-2 record. They kicked off the season with a 65-47 win over #21 ranked Northern State. An upset came in their second contest, falling to Southwest Minnesota State. Although they bounced back with a 91-82 win over Upper Iowa, the Bearcats lost their second game of the year to Emmanuel (Ga.). Most recently, Northwest handled Missouri-St. Louis with ease, taking down the Tritons 71-41 at their place. 

Northwest has a tall starting lineup, as all five are 6-4 and above. They have a pair of high scorers in Wes Dreamer (18.4 ppg) and Bennett Stirtz (18.2 ppg). Both are shooting over 50% from the field as Dreamer is at 53.4% and Stirtz is shooting 50.8%. Dreamer is also shooting 50%  from beyond the arc, making 13 of his 26 attempts.

Doing it all, Dreamer leads the team in rebounding at 9.0 per contest, and has 6 blocks on the year. The assists category is led by Stirtz with 18 on the year, and Byron Alexander also has 15. 

The Missouri Southern men's basketball season is presented by Arvest Bank, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.