Box Score

Pittsburg, Kan. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team claimed a thrilling 81-75 come from behind victory over Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon. With the victory SBU moves to 8-13 (6-7 MIAA) while Pittsburg State falls to 14-7 (7-6 MIAA).

The Bearcats jumped out quickly to a 8-2 lead (18:10) before Pittsburg State tied the game up at 8-8. The Bearcats and Gorillas continued a back-and-forth affair throughout a majority of the first half before PSU pushed their lead to nine as SBU went down 25-34 heading into the break.

In the second half Pittsburg State slowly built their lead to 22 (38-60) with 12:33 left in the game before SBU started their comeback. After cutting the lead to 16 (44-60) off of a Damion Hooks free throw, PSU went back up 20 (46-66) with only 9:10 remaining in the contest. The Bearcats began to turn it on, agressively getting to the free throw line, and cut their deficit in half at 59-69 with 5:25 remaining. SBU continued to cut into the lead, and with 1:48 left in the game Rashaad Brown-Peterson drilled a three to pull SBU within one at 73-74. After a PSU turnover, Preston Guiot hit a jumper to give SBU the lead for good at 75-74 (1:37). The Bearcats hit their free throws down the stretch to claim a 81-75 come from behind victory. The Bearcats used a 35-9 run over the final nine minutes of the contest to seal the victory.

Damion Hooks logged another twenty point performance with a game high 22 points while also pulling down 6 rebounds. Preston Guiot also gave SBU 20 points and 6 assists, Rashaad Brown-Peterson had 15 points, and Afamefuna Obukwelu added a career high 11 points off of the bench. As a team SBU shot 43.9% from the field, 41.7% from beyond the arc, and 84.% from the free throw line. The Bearcats forced 16 Gorilla turnovers while dishing out 17 assists in the win.

SBU will be back in action on Thursday, February 14 when they travel to Truman State for a match-up with the Bulldogs, the second meeting between the two clubs in the last two weeks. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. from Kirksville, Missouri.