By: Justin Wollard, Media Relations Director
Box score | Season stats | Photo gallery
JOPLIN, Mo. -- What started out slow for the SBU Bearcats turned good late in the first half, as the #13 Bearcats won 83-67 over the Missouri Southern Lions.
Southern started strong with an early 5-0 edge before leading 19-9 with 12:10 left. The Bearcats would use the next eight minutes to trim the lead before finally taking the lead 31-28 on a three by Koenig with four minutes left in the first half. SBU would get to an eight point lead before leading 40-34 at the break.
The Bearcats remained on top by 8-12 points through a good portion of the second half. After the Lions cut the SBU lead to five points (70-65) with just under five minutes remaining, SBU would close with a 13-2 run to seal the victory. SBU went 18 of 21 from the foul line for the game including 10 of 12 in the second half.
Matt Rogers had 23 points to lead SBU (10-2, 1-1 MIAA), one of three players with 20 or more points. Tomas Brock had 22 while Kurt Koenig had 21 for the Bearcats. Tristan Steele had a career high 11 rebounds for the 'Cats while Rogers tied his career high with 10 blocks and missed a triple-double by two boards after finishing with eight rebounds.
Jason Adams led the Lions (6-2, 1-2 MIAA) with 15 points while Keane Thomann had 14 points. The Bearcats held the Lions to 32% shooting in the second half including 0 of 10 from long range.
"It was a great team effort. I'm really proud of our team," said head coach Jeff Guiot. "This was the most unified I've seen our team all season. We really work on not taking plays off and putting the team first."
"We had good looks at the beginning, but they weren't falling. We didn't panic and started hitting our shots," Guiot continued. "Tomas Brock was impressive with 22 points and eight boards in 36 minutes. He's always looking for ways to improve."
The Bearcats host the Pittsburg State Gorillas on Saturday evening, with the game starting at 7:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center. The Bearcats have won 35 straight games at home, the second longest active streak in D-II behind Findlay.
