Joplin, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University Bearcats lost a tough matchup against #11 Missouri Southern, 72-82, in Joplin Saturday night. “We had some really good things happen tonight, and generally I wasn't disappointed with how we played” head coach Jeff Guiot stated after the ballgame. 

The Bearcats were lead in scoring by sophomore forward, Jacob French.  French came off the bench and had a season high 17 points on seven of nine shooting from the field, and pulled down five boards in the loss.  Sophomore forward Stephen Cotten posted 13 points and 8 rebounds for SBU, and freshman guard Zach Kliene added 11 points for the Bearcats.  “Jacob played well, [Ryan] Dougherty played his tail off, and I thought Steven really competed.  The effort was good.”  coach Guiot commented.

The Bearcats bench outscored the Lions bench 32-22, and the Bearcats were able to score more points off of turnovers (27) than Missouri Southern (19).  As a team, the Bearcats shot 43.3% from the field and 24.1% from beyond the arc.

Next up for the Bearcats is a battle with the Pittsburg State Gorillas at Meyer Sports Center on Tuesday, February 1, 2011. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.