By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

For once, Vincent Ateba picked on somebody his own size.

Ateba collected 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists as Missouri Southern rolled past Lincoln 82-59 Saturday night in the final game of the 14th annual Freeman Sports Medicine/Chris Tucker Memorial Classic at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

Ateba, 6-foot-4, 211-pound senior forward, sank 8 of 13 field goals and 8 of 11 free throws to match his career high for the second time this season.

“I think I did all right,” Ateba said. “I tried to use our mismatch. Usually I’m playing against guys bigger than me. When a (defender) is my size, it’s an advantage for me. He’s easier to shoot over than have a 6-8 guy trying to block your shot.”

“He’s a hard matchup for a lot of people,” Lions head coach Robert Corn said. “He shot free throws better tonight, especially late. He’s been struggling a little with that.”

Ateba’s five assists were one higher than his personal best.

“Five ... I’ll take it,”: Ateba said. “I like to get the team involved. When they double-team me, I know someone on my team is going to be open. I have to keep my head up and see what’s happening.”

“He made better decisions, five assists to one turnover,” Corn said. “He’s had a little problem with turnovers when he would try to do too much too quick. He’s starting to slow down and let things come to him.”

Guard Mariun Price, who hit 3 of 4 3-point attempts, and forward DaRell Crittendon contributed 11 points apiece for the Lions (4-0), and forward Matt Monroe had 10 points off the bench. Center Chris Scruggs matched Ateba’s eight rebounds, and Skyler Bowlin, while struggling with his shooting (2 of 8), dished out seven assists and had zero turnovers.

“Twenty-four assists to eight turnovers, that’s pretty good,” Corn said. “We shot the ball pretty good, 50 percent from the field (31 of 62), 50 percent from the 3 (8 of 16). We did a nice job of making the extra pass.”

Ateba converted five free throws, and Scruggs and Price hit jumpers during the last three minutes of the first half as the Lions stretched a four-point lead to 39-30 at the intermission.

Ateba had a tipin, a one-handed jam and two free throws, and Price and Bowlin hit treys as the Lions doubled their lead to 51-33 seven minutes into the second half.

Joe Hutchingson, the brother of former Pittsburg State player Michael Hutchingson, scored 17 points to lead Lincoln (2-2).