Game Notes

Date: February 7, 2018
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Joplin, Mo. 

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist (11-11, 5-8 MIAA) heads out on the road Wednesday to Joplin to challenge the Missouri Southern Lions (14-8, 9-4 MIAA) on Wednesday night.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats sport a 11-11 (5-8 MIAA) record in the 2017-18 season. The Bearcats are on a current two game skid after dropping two home weekend contests to Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma. SBU is paced by senior forward Logan Hovey who averages a team high and third best in the MIAA conference 18.6 points per game and fifth best 7.7 rebounds per game. Marlon Alcindor averages double figures with 12.6 points per game. Chris Rossow leads the team in assists with 4.4 a game, and Damian Prgomet chips in 8.0 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. As a team, the Bearcats are scoring 76.8 points per game, which is seventh best in the MIAA conference, and shoot a third best in the MIAA and 16th best in the NCAA 40.7% from behind the arc while giving up 73.5 points per game on 42.0% shooting from opponents. The 42.0 field goal percentage defense ranks third in the MIAA.

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SCOUTING THE LIONS
Missouri Southern comes into this contest with a record of 14-8 (9-4 MIAA). On Sunday afternoon, the Lions went to Pittsburg State and knocked off the Gorillas by a score of 90-76. The Lions feature a balanced scoring attack with four different players that score double digits. Elyjah Clark and CJ Carr lead the way with 16.8 points per game and 16.7 points per game respectively. Clark tops the Lions in rebounding with 6.5 a game, and Carr leads the conference in assists with 6.0 a game. Kinzer Lambert and Enis Memic chip in 10.7 points per game and 10.1 points per game a piece. Missouri Southern scores 81.2 points per game and let up 76.6 points a game. 

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THE COACHES
SBU head coach Clark Sheehy is in his fourth season on the SBU bench, holding a 47-61 (24-49 MIAA) record while at SBU. Coach Sheehy holds a career coaching record of 228-162 across twelve seasons while coaching six different All-Americans and over 20 athletes that have moved on to play professional basketball. 

Jeff Boschee is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Missouri Southern basketball program after serving four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach. As a head coach, Boschee is 56-35 in three seasons.

ALL-TIME SERIES
In almost 100 career matchups, Missouri Southern has the edge over SBU, 53-43. Their last meeting though in the 2016-17 season SBU dominated the Lions, winning 84-62.

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BEARCATS LAST OUTING
(2/3/18) - Bolivar, Mo. - Logan Hovey scored a team high 21 points but that ended up not being enough as Central Oklahoma used a 49-38 second half to ultimately knock off Southwest Baptist, 79-74, Saturday afternoon. With the loss, SBU's record now stands at 11-11 (5-8 MIAA) and UCO goes to 15-7 (8-5 MIAA). 

Hovey scored his 21 points on 57.1% (8-14) from the floor including two threes and 75.0% (3-4) at the stripe. Hovey also added 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the loss. Chris Rossow scored 17 points and dished out 5 assists while Marlon Alcindor chipped in 16 points and 2 assists. The remaining Bearcat who landed in the double digit scoring column was Damian Prgomet with 14 to go along with a game high 8 rebounds. On the afternoon, SBU shot 45.1% (23-51) on field goals, 35.3% on threes, and an excellent 91.7% (22-24) on free throws. Turnovers between the two teams were dead even at 13. UCO won the rebounding battle over SBU, 35 to 31. 

The first half the Bearcats shot 44.8% on their way to 36-30 halftime lead. SBU built their halftime advantage by using a 9-2 run over the last five minutes of the half. In the second half, the lead changed hands multiple times over the first seven minutes. However, at the 13:06 mark, UCO grabbed a 48-47 advantage that they did not relinquish the rest of the way. SBU drew within a point, 52-51, with 10:36 to go and within two points, 55-53 with 9:33 left but those were the closest points SBU came. The Bronchos were able to knock down free throws down the stretch to keep their lead between five and seven points and send SBU home with a 79-74 defeat. 

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LIONS LAST OUTING
(2/3/18) - Pittsburg, Kan. – Elyjah Clark tied a Missouri Southern single-game record with nine three pointers and the Missouri Southern men's basketball team defeated Pittsburg State 90-76 today inside John Lance Arena in Pittsburg.
 
Southern (14-8, 9-4 MIAA) was led by Clark's career night as the sophomore scored 34 on 12-17 from the field and 9-17 from long-range. CJ Carr was one assist away from a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Kinzer Lambert scored 11 and had seven rebounds, while Enis Memic had ten points off the bench.
 
Pitt (13-9, 6-7 MIAA) had four score in double-figures, led by 18 points each from Xavier Adams and Donovan Franklin.
 
The Lions opened up a 7-2 lead two minutes in after a three from Kinzer Lambert and led 17-11 after a layup from Braelon Walker with 13:14 left in the half. A 15-7 run over the next five minutes had the Lions up 32-18 after a layup from Memic.
 
The lead was 19 after a pair of free throws from Lambert made the score 44-25 with 3:28 left in the half. The Gorillas got to within 11 (44-33) with a minute left, but a layup from Memic with 26 seconds to go, gave the Lions a 48-33 lead at the break.
 
A running layup off the backboard from Carr with 15:16 left in the second half gave the Lions a 60-44 lead, but the Gorillas went on a 11-3 run over the next two minutes to get within eight (63-55) and force a Southern timeout.
 
The Gorillas got within seven (70-63) with ten minutes left in the half, but never got any closer. A layup from Ross with 6:13 left made the score 78-67 and a jumper from Walker with 2:34 left gave the Lions an 83-70 lead. Clark's ninth three of the game made the score 90-74 with 27 seconds left.
 
Southern shot 58 percent from the field and 48 percent from long-range.

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