Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University men's basketball team took down Northeastern State on Thursday evening in Bolivar, 79-68. With the victory, SBU moves above .500 on the season with a 8-7 (3-3 MIAA) record.

Starting off the game, the Bearcats held a marginal lead for the first five minutes of the contest. A jumper by Patrick Burke gave SBU a 9-6 lead with 15:15 left in the first half, but NSU responded with a 7-0 run to take a 13-9 lead over the Bearcats. SBU would continue to hang close, but NSU would push their lead to a game high 12 points (28-16) with 7:50 left in the half. The Bearcats fought back, cutting the NSU lead back to single digits on a Robert Shaw layup to go into the break trailing 37-29.

In the second half, Northeastern State put a quick two points on the board to push the lead back to double-digits (39-29), but the Bearcats found their rythm and used a 9-0 run to put themselves back in the game trailing 39-38. SBU and NSU would play neck-and-neck over the next over the next five minutes, and a layup from Finn Delany tied the game up at 45-45 with 10:24 to go. The Bearcats took their first lead of the second half off of a Derrick Stewart three only seconds later, but the teams continued to trade buckets as the game was tied 51-51 with 7:46 left in the contest. SBU slowly started to wear down the NSU defense, building a ten point lead, fueled by a Quinton Smith three and a jumper from Menas Stephens, to lead 65-55 with 3:44 to go. From that point forward, SBU went to the free throw line, and cluth free throws from the Bearcats helped seal a 79-68 victory.

Patrick Burke gave SBU a career high 16 points to go along with 7 rebounds off of the bench to lead the Bearcats. Quinton Smith also played well off of the bench, hitting five three's en route to a 15 point performance, while Daymond Cowlah had 13 points and Finn Delany and Derrick Stewart both added 11 points in the victory. As a team, SBU shot 44.0% from the field, 36.4% from beyond the arc, and 65.9% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, January 10 when they host Central Oklahoma. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.