Prince's 29 points, 17 rebounds not enough as MSSU falls

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team led 31-28 at the half, but Minnesota State - Mankato scored 51 second-half points en route to a 79-67 win over the Lions in the final game of the MIAA-NSIC Challenge held inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center tonight.

The Lions (1-1) were led offensively by Taevaunn Prince as the senior had 29 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in the loss. He went 9-17 from the field and 10-11 from the free-throw line. Charlie Brown had 11 points, while Greg Renfroescored 10 and added four rebounds. DJ Feitl had eight points and seven rebounds.

MSU (1-1) was led by 17 points from Jalen Pendleton, while Jon Fuqua had 13 points and ten rebounds.

Both teams traded baskets early on before the Lions took a seven point lead on a layup from Taylor Luster with 5:29 left in the first half. Mankato tied the score at 25, before a 6-1 run by the Lions made the score 31-26 with a minute to go. A layup from MSU with 45 seconds left made the halftime score 31-28.

The Mavericks started the second-half on fire and opened up a seven point lead after a layup from TJ Okafor with 17:14 left in the game. A pair of free throws from Prince and a layup the next trip down cut the lead to one (45-44) with 12:40 to go in the game, but MSU upped the lead to 11 (64-53) after a three from Mike Busack with 6:41 to go.

The lead would be 13 (68-55) before the Lions went on a 10-0 run capped off by a three-point play from Prince to cut the score to 68-65 with 1:48 to go. That would be as close as the Lions would get, however, as MSU made its free-throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Southern shot 36 percent from the field and 25 percent from long range, making 82 percent of its free-throws. MSU hit just 41 percent from the field in the game, but shot 51 percent in the second half to fuel the win. Points in the paint were in the favor of the Lions at 26-24, while the Lions also led the second-chance war 11-10.

The Lions will be back in action on Wednesday night as Southern plays host to Arkansas-Fort Smith. Tip off fromRobert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is slated for 7:30 pm.