Sunday, December 20, 2015

MSSU men move into first place in MIAA with 92-72 win

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's basketball team had season-highs in assists (19), blocks (9) and three pointers (13) and the Lions moved into sole possession of first place in the MIAA with a 92-72 win over visiting Washburn on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Southern (8-4, 5-1 MIAA) was led by 21 points and 11 rebounds from Taevaunn Prince as the senior from Toronto went 7-13 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line.Charlie Brown scored 16 points and added nine rebounds, while Taylor Luster had 11. Blaine Miller and Bruce Marshallboth scored 11 points off the bench, while Marshall added a career-high four blocks.

Washburn (7-3, 3-2 MIAA) had four score in double-figures, led by 20 points from Cameron Wiggins.

After the Ichabods scored the game's opening bucket, Austin Wright answered back with a three on the Lions' next possession. Southern led 5-4 with 17:35 left in the half when Brown went on a run of his own, scoring 12-straight MSSU points and the Lions led 15-6 with 15:33 to go, forcing a Washburn timeout.

The Lions' lead was 26-16 after a three pointer from Prince with 10:32 left in the half, and a three the next trip down from Luster gave Southern a 29-16 lead.

Back-to-back threes from Luster and Miller gave the Lions a 38-21 lead with just under six minutes to go in the half. A dunk from Marshall and a three from him on the next trip down gave the Lions a 43-29 lead with 1:30 to go in the half.

Washburn got the MSSU lead down to 12 (43-31) with 1:20 to go, but a bucket from Prince with 33 seconds to go and a running jumper on the baseline with time expiring from Vince Fritz gave the Lions a 47-31 halftime lead.

Southern led by 16 (54-38) with 16:11 left in the second half, but the Lions went on a 19-0 run and led 73-38 with 10:52 left. Washburn cut the Southern lead to 16 (80-64) with 4:22 left, but a three from Blaine Miller gave the Lions the final tally.

The Lions shot 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from long range making a season-high 13 deep balls. The Lions also had nine blocks and 19 assists, having a 49-33 advantage on the boards, scoring 19 second-chance points. The Southern bench out scored Washburn, 38-10.

Southern will be off for the Christmas holiday and the Lions will be back in action on January 2, traveling to Nebraska-Kearney. Tip off is slated for 7:30 pm.



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