From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
CAROLINA, Puerto Rico — The Missouri Southern bench provided much of the firepower as the Lions, remaining undefeated, beat Puerto-Rico-Bayamon 89-83 on Saturday in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Holiday Tournament.
The Lions, getting 54 points from nonstarters, rolled to their third tournament victory in three days. No. 14-ranked Southern, 12-0, led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half.
Junior guard Mariun Price, who led the Lions with 18 points, was named the tournament MVP. Price hit 7-of-8 shots in the game, including all four from 3-point range.
“He’s very deserving of the award,” said Robert Corn, Missouri Southern coach. “He came in here and did a tremendous job for us. He shot the ball extremely well. He has really elevated his game. In the first two games (of the Puerto Rico Tournament), he made some big plays for us down the stretch.
“He’s more comfortable now with what we’re doing and he’s shown he is a player we can count on this year.”
Jason Adams, a freshman from Carthage, added 17 points for the Lions. Seniors Matt Monroe and Tony Webb scored 11 and 10, respectively, and Webb had eight assists.
“When we made the spurt in the first half, it was all bench guys on the floor,” Corn said. “The starting five didn’t come out with the energy you like. ... Our guys came in and gave us a burst of energy, gave us some excitement.
“From that point on, we pretty well controlled the ballgame.”
Still, Corn wasn’t happy with the way the Lions finished the game. Southern had just two baskets in the final 4:40, after taking an 85-71 lead on a 3-point goal by Skyler Bowlin.
“We really scrambled the last couple of minutes,” Corn said. “We made a couple of plays that you just don’t make in that situation (leading and trying to keep the clock running.)”
Added Corn: “This is a tremendous win for this team and our program. We played three tough games in three days. We started out slow ... Bayamon was quicker to the ball than we were. But once we got into the swing of things, we did a better job on the defensive glass and made the extra pass to find the open man.
“This has given us some confidence to where we feel like, when conference play resumes, we’ll be going into it with a positive attitude. We have some tough games ahead of us and we have to continue to grow and get better as a basketball team.”
The Lions resume MIAA action on Monday, Dec. 29, when the visit Southwest Baptist in Bolivar.
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