Maryville, Mo. - Conference play began around the MIAA Thursday evening, the Lions facing the #15 nationally ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats on their home court. Missouri Southern made a late push, nearly doubling their score in the final 9:21 of the game, but fell 78-74. With the loss, the Lions drop to 2-5 (0-1 MIAA) on the year.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but
Avery Taggart cut that in half with MSSU's first points of the game coming on a made three pointer. At the 12:16 mark of the first half, the Lions found themselves down 17-5, but went on a 14-3 run over the next five minutes to make the score 20-19.
Martin Macenis,
Cam Williams, and
Vinson Sigmon Jr. did most of the scoring on that run, one of those field goals marking Sigmon Jr.'s 1,000th career point over his collegiate career.
Cam Williams then made a pair of free throws, followed by a
Justin Duff pull up jumper to keep the Lions close. As time wound down,
Vinson Sigmon Jr. made a layup with seven seconds left to make the halftime score 31-25 in favor of the hosts.
Darius Dawson opened the scoring in the second half, trimming the Northwest lead to four. After Northwest responded,
Avery Taggart made a layup, followed by a three to tie the game a 33-33. Northwest then went on a bit of a run, claiming a double-digit lead. Every time the Lions chipped away at that lead, the Bearcats would respond to keep some distance.
With just under three minutes to go, NWMSU had a 67-57 lead when
Sam Thompson and
Vinson Sigmon Jr. made a pair of field goals. After a Bearcat basket, Sigmon Jr. scored 11 straight points for Missouri Southern, three baskets coming from beyond the arc in that mix. The Bearcats made their free throws to keep the lead, ending in a 78-74 final.
Vinson Sigmon Jr. had a career game, scoring his 1,000th point and a career-high 24 points. He made 9 of his 13 shots, 4 of 5 three point field goals.
Avery Taggart scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, dishing 7 assists as well.
Darius Dawson was close to his second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points on 5-6 shooting and 8 rebounds.
The Lions will wrap up their first weekend of conference play against Missouri Western on Saturday, December 2. Game time for that contest was recently pushed to a 5:30 PM start.
The Missouri Southern men's basketball season is presented by Arvest Bank, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
