Joplin, Mo. - The Missouri Southern men's basketball team played host to the Central Missouri Mules on Saturday, the second meeting between the teams this year. Earlier this year, the Lions defeated the Mules 75-56 in Warrensburg. On Saturday, the Lions defeated the Mules 71-62, securing the regular season sweep and improving to 11-12 (9-8 MIAA) on the year.
Central Missouri scored the first basket of the game, but
Darius Dawson responded to get MSSU going. He scored the first 10 points for the Lions, doing it in all kinds of ways with a jumper, free throws, and a pair of three's. His two field goals from beyond the arc were the first of seven straight for Missouri Southern.
Martin Macenis made a couple as well, and
Avery Taggart,
Winston Dessesow, and
Parker Long also made one in that stretch.
With just under six minutes left in the half,
Martin Macenis made a pair of free throws to extend Southern's lead to 27-20. He scored another two points on a jumper after that as well. UCM narrowed the lead to five, but
Darius Dawson made a couple of baskets to end the first half with a 33-26 lead.
The Lions used the first five minutes of the second half to double their lead.
Martin Macenis had a layup, then a made jumper while being fouled, making that free throw as well. Although the Mules would make a basket here and there, the Lions kept responding, leading 53-39 at the midway point of the second half.
Avery Taggart helped Missouri Southern to a 17-point lead with 6:26 to go, and he later found
Ibn Loyal on a deep pass who threw it down for a dunk. Central Missouri cut the margin down to 11 a few times in the final minutes, and made a three in the final seconds to cut it to single digits, but Missouri Southern kept breaking the press and spending time on offense to secure the 71-62 win.
Darius Dawson had another strong performance, scoring his second 20+ point game of the week. He shot 7-12 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line, scoring 22 points. Additionally, he had 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Martin Macenis scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, 4-5 from the free throw line.
Vinson Sigmon Jr. also hit double digits with 14 points scored, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.
The team will be off until next Saturday, as they play host to the Pittsburg State Gorillas. Game time is scheduled for 3:30pm on February 17 at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
The Missouri Southern men's basketball season is presented by Arvest Bank, a proud supporter of Lion Athletics.
