By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Rebounding no doubt was one emphasis for Missouri Southern as the Lions prepared for tonight’s game against Pittsburg State.
The Gorillas dominated the boards 44-31 and won the first meeting 67-65 on Rodney Grace’s tipin just before the buzzer sounded.
“It’s one area where we have to be much better,” Lions head coach Robert Corn said. “It certainly was a huge factor the first time we played them.”
Tipoff is 7:30 at Missouri Southern’s Leggett & Platt Athletic Center, and the winner earns the men’s basketball point in the inaugural Sonic Trophy Series between the rivals.
The Gorillas (8-14, 2-13 MIAA) secure the point with a win by virtue of their season sweep. The Lions (13-8, 7-7) need a win to earn a season split, and they would clinch the point by clinching a higher finish in the conference standings.
“It’s a huge game Wednesday night,” Lions senior guard Mariun Price said. “They got us at their place. I’m looking forward to a big crowd ... both teams are coming off wins ... it should be fun.”
The Lions halted a two-game skid with a 79-75 victory Saturday night over Missouri Western. It was only the Lions’ second home victory this season by single digits.
“We found a way to win,” Corn said. “We haven’t had many games that came down to having to get a stop or making free throws. A lot of our wins have been by double digits where the last minute didn’t hold the significance that Saturday night’s finish did. It was nice to see our guys make plays and win a tough basketball game.”
The Gorillas snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 77-68 home victory over Northwest Missouri State on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a consistent effort for close to 40 minutes, which we haven’t had a lot of the time,” said Gorillas head coach Gene Iba, who’s retiring after this season. “We shared the ball a lot better and turned it over almost none (five times). We didn’t rebound as well as we would have liked (29-27 disadvantage). I know that’s what Robert has worked on for a week.”
Senior guard Spencer Magana fired in 29 points — 12 above his average — against Northwest Missouri and became the 21st player in PSU history to reach 1,000 points. With 1,027 points in 103 games, he’s 19th on the career scoring list, just 27 points away from cracking the top 15.
“Spencer far and away has been our most consistent player,” Iba said. “And he’s doing it against an awful lot of pressure because for a long period of time there was not anybody else scoring. Hopefully we’ll spread the scoring around enough to take some pressure off where he’s not getting gang-tackled.”
“Magana is an all-conference type player, and Grace is an excellent player,” Corn said. “Their other guys, JaVon McGee and Andy Smith and C.J. Masters are all capable of having career nights against you.
“We have to do a good job defensively and not allow them to come over here and get comfortable in what they’re doing. We want to disrupt them on the offensive end enough to make them take tough shots, and hopefully we’ll be able to rebound. If we give them second and third opportunities to score, it’s going to be a long 40 minutes.”
The Lions’ Jason Adams, sophomore forward, ranks among the league leaders at 18.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Center Keane Thomann and guards Price and Skyler Bowlin all contribute around 12 points.
“Southern is as improved of a team as any team in the league from the last time we played them,” Iba said. “They are doing things now they didn’t do earlier. They’re handling the ball better, sharing the ball better, getting a lot more active in their pressure defense.
“A major thing for them is the big kid (Thomann) is a valuable player now. He’s really come along ... he’s a big factor now.”
