Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - Seniors Robson Memnon and Ryan Dougherty had excellent performances in a 86-74 victory over #14 Missouri Southern on Saturday night in Bolivar. The Bearcats had three players score over 15 points in the victory.

SBU came ready to play against #14 Missouri Southern, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead to start the game. SBU would hover around an 8 point advantage for most of the first half before their offense exploded late in the first half, putting SBU up by as many as 21, and taking a 43-31 lead into halftime. The Bearcats would survive multiple surges by the Lions, never letting the lead get under 5 in the second half, before finally putting the Lions away by extending the lead to at least 10 points, which they held for the final four minutes of the game.

Seniors Robson Memnon and Ryan Dougherty were outstanding for the Bearcats in the victory. Dougherty had another excellent game shooting for the Bearcats, scoring a game high 25 points with 6 assists in 39 minutes played. Robson Memnon was a force down low for the Bearcats, scoring 24 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and collecting 6 steals in the win. Kyle Sloan also added 17 points off of five of seven shooting from the field.

SBU shot a season high 54.5% from the field, 44.0% from beyond the arc, and 72.2% from the free throw line. The Bearcats stingy zone defense forced 22 Lion turnovers and collected 13 steals in the win. The Bearcats out-rebounded the Lions 34-28 and outscored the Lions down low (30-28).

"We have had a lot of great players here but none of them have had a heart bigger than Ryan [Dougherty]'s," head coach Jeff Guiot commented after the win. "Ryan's effort tonight was tremendous.  He handled the ball well and he only had three turnovers in 39 minutes played.  I think that was pretty impressive with the intensity of the game. Ryan is one of the biggest warriers we have ever had come through SBU, hats off to Ryan. We also had a lot of guys step up tonight. We stepped up and out-rebounded them with 4 on the offensive board and 6 for the game.  Rob [Memnon] played great and Jeremy Nolen really stepped up tonight.  We played him a lot down the stretch, and he really came of age tonight with his play."

The Bearcats will hit the road on Wednesday, February 1 when they travel to Pittsburg, Kansas to take on Pittsburg State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.