By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
A strong final seven minutes outweighed a so-so opening 33 minutes as Missouri Southern pulled away for a 103-81 victory over Livin’ The Dream on Saturday afternoon at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Junior guard Skyler Bowlin collected 29 points, eight assists, five steals, three rebounds and three turnovers in 27 minutes as the Lions won their final tuneup before Friday night’s regular-season opener against Missouri S&T; in the Pittsburg State Classic.
Bowlin had two 3-point goals, a layup, four free throws, two assists and a steal as the Lions outscored LTD 27-4 in the final 6 minutes, 54 seconds.
“Skyler played very well,” Lions head coach Robert Corn said. “He got to the line, made his free throws (13-of-14). That’s what you expect out of him. He had a pretty solid performance.”
Backup guard Patrick Hester hit 3-of-5 treys and 6-of-9 shots overall for 15 points as four more Lions reached double figures. Jason Adams scored 14, Mariun Price 13 and Keane Thomann 11.
DaRell Crittendon had eight of his 12 rebounds in the second half as the Lions outrebounded LTD 19-12 in the second half and 39-32 for the game.
“The last seven minutes we played really well,” Corn said. “I thought we really had good energy on the defensive end. Those are things you can build on. Certainly there are a lot of things we need to work on, to get better.
“The things I was concerned about: Where our defense is, and it’s nowhere where it needs to be. And taking care of the basketball ... there’s no way we should have 19 turnovers against that team.”
Livin’ The Dream’s roster had a definite MIAA flavor with former Lions Brad Mann (8 points) and Blake Bard (2 points, 2 assists) along with Kelvin Parker from Northwest Missouri State (12 points), D’Ante Harris from Southwest Baptist (10 points) and Theo Jones from Central Missouri (8 points). B.J. Jones, former player at Moberly Community College, led LTD with 14 points.
“Their perimeter game was pretty good with Kelvin Parker, D’Ante Harris and Theo Jones,” Corn said. “Those guys were very good players. They are still very good players.”
The Lions hit seven of their first nine shots and owned a 17-6 lead after four minutes when Bowlin’s steal led to an Adams dunk. The Lions led 49-35 on Thomann’s layup with 3:04 left in the half before Livin’ the Dream ran off nine unanswered points to end the half. B.J. Jones and Harris hit treys in the final minute to cap the spree.
The Lions regained a 10-point lead in the first two minutes of the second half, but LTD outscored the Lions 29-14 during a 9 1/2-minute stretch for a 75-70 lead on Parker’s free throw with 8:01 left.
“They shot the ball well (48 percent compared to 52 percent for the Lions),” Corn said. “It seemed like every time I thought we were trying to make a little push, they would get a wide-open 3 and knock it down — until the last seven minutes. I thought we started doing a better job getting out on them, too. We weren’t leaving them wide open.”
