Magee hits career-high 27 to pace MSSU men past Nebraska-Kearney

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Career-highs in points (27), rebounds (10), free-throws (4), field goals (11) and blocks (7) fromSlim Magee helped lift the Missouri Southern basketball team over visiting Nebraska-Kearney, 99-79 tonight inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. 

Southern (6-1, 1-0 MIAA) nearly missed four-straight games with 100 points on the night, as four different Lions scored in double-figures. Magee went 11-14 from the field and 5-6 from the free-throw line. Marquis Addison had 21 points on 6-13 from the field and 9-10 from the free-throw line. Cameron Cornelius scored 16 on 7-9 shooting, while Jordan Talbert had 12 points and six rebounds. Lane Barlow had a team-high eight assists. 

Kearney (2-3, 0-1 MIAA) had three score in double-figures led by two with over 20 in Connor Beranek with 26 and Davion Pearson with 21. 

The Lions led 22-6 at the 11:37 mark of the first-half after a layup from Devin Spencer and the lead was 17 (28-11) after a free-throw from Greg Renfroe at 9:36. A layup from Austin Wright at the two-minute mark gave the Lions their largest lead of the half at 23 (50-27). A jumper from Beranek would make the halftime lead 18 (52-34) going into the locker room. 

Southern maintained a double-digit lead in the second half until the six-minute mark as a three-point play from Pearson cut the lead to eight (79-71) with 6:09 left. Southern would turn it on and went on a 12-0 run over the next five minutes to push the lead to 20 (91-71) and led by 23 (99-76) after a fast-break layup from Cornelius with 13 seconds left. 

The Lions dominated down low tonight, with a 54-20 advantage in the paint and a 25-12 lead in second-chance points. Southern's bench out-scored UNK 35-10 and the Lions forced 10 Lopers turnovers, scoring 17 points off the miscues. Southern shot 60 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free-throw line and held a 42-25 advantage on the boards. 

The Lions will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, when Southern plays host to Washburn University at 3 pm from the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.