Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern men's basketball team will begin the MIAA Tournament off with tenth seeded Northeastern State tomorrow from Municipal Auditorium with a 2:15pm. The two schools will be meeting for the second time in MIAA Tournament history with the previous matchup in Kansas City being from the 2020 edition.
Game Information
Teams: No. 7 Missouri Southern (16-12, 12-10 MIAA) vs. No. 10 Northeastern State (12-14, 9-13 MIAA)
Date: Mar. 1st
Tip-Off: 2:15 PM
Location: Kansas City, Mo.
Sites: Historic Municipal Auditorium
Series Record: Lions lead 28-19 overall, 1-0 during MIAA Tournament
Coaches
MSSU: Sam McMahon (1st Season at MSSU / Overall, 16-12)
NSU: Ja Havens (3rd Season at NSU, 33-46 & 10th overall, 164-120)
Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: Mike McClure - Play by play - 101-7 the Vault - 101.7 FM
Live Audio/Video/Stats - https://www.mssulions.com/coverage
Lions on Facebook: Facebook.com/mososports
Lions on Twitter: @mososports; @mssumensbball
The All-MIAA Group
Missouri Southern had four named All-MIAA honorable mention this season with Avery Taggart, Christian Bundy, Vinson Sigmon Jr. and Winston Dessesow being honored. Taggart led the team with 3.3 assists per game, Bundy led the team with 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 offensive rebounds per game, Sigmon Jr. leads the team with 1.4 steals a game and Dessesow leads the team with 2.7 threes per game and 40.0 percent from three.
What A Win Means
With a Lions win it would mark the fifth straight win over the RiverHwaks and the second win in the series for games in the MIAA Tournament. It will also be the first win by the program since the 2020 Tournament where the Lions upset 15th ranked Rogers State in the Semifinals on Mar. 7th, 76-70. If Southern wins it will set a date with #12 Central Oklahoma on Thursday Mar. 2nd at 2:15pm.
Look Back At The 2020 Game Against NSU
In the Lions 96-60 win over Northeastern State in the 2020 MIAA Tournament current players Christian Bundy and Winston Dessesow came off the bench as Bundy in 11 minutes went 3-for-4 from the field, 2-for-2 from three with three offensive rebounds and a steal for eight points. Dessesow saw 18 minutes of action going 1-for-2 from three with four offensive rebounds, five total and two assists. All-American forward Cam Martin scored 24 points with nine rebounds and five assists to lead the team as Elyjah Clark and Kinzer Lambert added 20 and 17 points.
MIAA Tournament History
Missouri Southern will be making their 30th appearance in the MIAA Tournament and 25th straight and has an overall record of 24-26 with seven championship games played and titles in the 1993, 2000 and 2014 tournaments. In the first round the Lions are 1-0 with the lone game happening on Mar. 4th, 2013 in a 68-66 win over Emporia State.
