Box score | Season stats

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcats dropped their regular season finale, losing on the road to Missouri Western 86-72. The teams will rematch in the first round of the MIAA Tournament, this Friday, March 5 at 2:15 p.m., with the Griffons as the fourth seed and the Bearcats as the fifth seed.

SBU tied with Missouri Southern for fifth place in the conference at 11-9, but won the tiebreaker due to a season sweep of the Lions. For the third straight season, SBU's first round opponent in the MIAA Tournament will be against the same team they ended the season playing -- Emporia State in 2008 and also Missouri Western last year.

SBU (20-10, 11-9 MIAA) was led by Tristan Steele with 20 points and Kurt Koenig with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Tomas Brock and Ryan Dougherty each had 11 points. Brock also had five assists for the Bearcats.

The Griffons (17-10, 12-8 MIAA) were led by Marcus Rhodes with 16 points. The Missouri Western bench was the story, outscoring SBU 35-11. SBU head coach Jeff Guiot noted this after the game. "We knew it would be tough on the road and they're a good team. They shot the ball well and we just don't have the depth to sustain things," he said.

SBU led early before the Griffons took the lead on a bucket by Brandon Beck. MWSU would grow their first half lead to as much as nine points before leading 34-29 at halftime. A trey from Brock cut the lead to 41-40 with 16 minutes to go, but that was as close as SBU would get as the Griffons shot 64% in the second half on their way to the victory. Western would shoot 56% from the field for the game and hit 20 of 27 (72%) from the foul line.

The Bearcats played one-third (10 games) of their regular season with All-American Matt Rogers. Despite the adversity, Guiot said his team continued to battle. "There's no excuses from this team, despite all the ups and downs of this year. We know we need to win to help our chances (for the NCAA Tournament). We need to tighten our defense and rebound the basketball."

SBU was seventh in the most recent NCAA regional rankings, with Missouri Western in ninth place. The rematch in the MIAA Tournament will have a huge impact on both teams' hopes of making the national tournament. The last rankings will be released on Wednesday, with the pairings announced Sunday evening, March 7, following the completion of conference tournaments around the nation.