Joplin, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team came up short on the back-and-forth contest against Missouri Southern, dropping the game 91-100.

The Bearcats trailed throughout the first ten minutes of the first half, going down 13-23 before starting the battle back. The Bearcats used a 13-2 run to take a one point advantage at 26-25 with 10:07 left in the first half. SBU pushed their lead to five at 33-28 (8:15), but trailed going into halftime down 46-53.

In the second half the Bearcats continued to come out shooting, and cut the lead back to five (52-57) off of back-to-back three's from Damion Hooks. The Bearcats would top off a 12-2 run with a three by Gilbert Gyamfi to take a 58-57 lead. The Bearcats would find themselves down 62-71 before once again battling back. SBU would go on a 16-5 to take a two point lead at 78-76, but the back-and-forth game would continue as Missouri Southern once again came back to take the lead. The Bearcats continued to fight but ultimately came up short, dropping the contest 91-100.

Preston Guiot led the Bearcat scoring attack with 22 points while also adding 7 assists. Damion Hooks added 17 points and 6 boards, while Rashaad Brown-Peterson had 11 points and 6 assists and Gilbert Gyamfi closed out the double-digit scoring with 10. As a team SBU shot 46.3% from the field, 48.1% from beyond the arc, and 80.0% from the free throw line. The Bearcats dished out 20 assists and forced 12 turnovers in the loss.

SBU will be back in action on Saturday, February 9 when they travel to Pittsburg State for a match-up against the Gorillas. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from Pittsburg, Kan.