Box Score

Kearney, Neb. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team fell on the road to Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday afternoon 80-62 despite another double-double from senior Menas Stephens. With the loss, the Bearcats drop to 3-6 (0-2 MIAA) on the season.

The Bearcats held right with the Lopers for a majority of the first half of Saturday's contest, but were never able to claim a lead. UNK jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but SBU hung tight by responding with made shots of their own following UNK buckets. The Lopers pushed their lead to seven with 11:28 left in the first half, but the Bearcats came right back as Patrick Burke hit a three to cut the lead back down to four. However, UNK held strong and pushed their lead to eight (26-18) with 7:26 left in the first half. Southwest Baptist continued to stay close, and a jumper from Menas Stephens with 3:56 left in the first half cut the Lopers lead to 27-23. However, UNK extended their lead to 10 as the Bearcats went into the half trailing 37-27.

In the second half, Nebraska-Kearney slowly started to build their lead. The Lopers began the second half with a 10-2 run, pushing the Bearcat deficit to 18, and UNK would go up 20 (53-33) with 13:22 left in the contest. The Bearcats were unable to overcome the Lopers as SBU would eventually fall 80-62.

Menas Stephens had a solid game for the Bearcats, giving SBU another double-double with a game high 22 points off of 9-20 shooting from the field and a game high 10 rebounds. Patrick Burke had 11 points off of the bench, while Finn Delany and Daymond Cowlah each added 8 points in the loss. As a team, SBU shot 38.6% from the field, 21.1% from beyond the arc, and 60.9% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will return home on Saturday, December 13 when they host Emporia State. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.