Box Score
Bolivar, Mo. - After only trailing by three at halftime, the Southwest Baptist Men's Basketball team was outscored 55-42 in the second half before ultimately dropping an 88-72 contest against Missouri Southern. The loss is the Bearcats third in a row, and their record sits at 11-12 (5-9 MIAA). The win makes Missouri Southern's record 15-8 (10-4 MIAA). 

Logan Hovey was one of four Bearcats in double digits in the scoring column. He led the Bearcats in 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting from the field. Hovey added 7 rebounds, 4 of which were on the offensive end. Marlon Alcindor scored 11 points and pulled down 4 rebounds. Darnell Latham Jr. also chipped in 11 points and corralled 5 rebounds. Chris Rossow filled up the stat sheet in multiple categories with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Damian Prgomet fell two points short of another double double with 8 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort. As a team, Southwest Baptist shot 47.5% (29-61) from the floor, 27.3% (3-11) from deep, and 84.6% (11-13) from the foul line. SBU had the edge on the boards over the Lions, 41 to 30. The Bearcats almost doubled up the Lions on points in the paint, 48 to 26. The difference was Missouri Southern made 14 threes on the night. SBU only forced 8 Lion turnovers while turning it over 17 times themselves.

 Four minutes into the game, SBU held a 12-7 lead after a layup from Alcindor. After a Missouri Southern run, SBU tied the game back up at 16 on a steal and fastbreak layup from Latham Jr. With 3:51 remaining in the half, SBU retook the lead 27-25 on a Karim Mouliom layup. The Lions closed the half on a mini run to take a slim 33-30 advantage into the locker room.

Quickly into the second half, Missouri Southern opened their first double digit lead of the half, 44-33. At the 14:28 mark, SBU cut the Lion margin down to just two points on a traditional three point play from Mouliom. Over the next five minutes, Missouri Southern pushed their lead out a bit but the Bearcats stayed within five to seven points. At the under 10 media timeout, the Lions held a seven point, 61-54, advantage. Coming out of this media timeout, Missouri Southern went on a 10-3 run in the next three minutes that put the Bearcats away. SBU would not get the Lions lead under double digits the rest of the way.

SBU will return to the floor on Saturday afternoon as they travel to challenge the Gorillas of Pitt State. The game is slated to start at 3:30 PM in Pittsburg, Kansas.