By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Missouri Southern’s quick 10-point burst produced a double-digit lead midway through the second half, and the Lions came up with key defensive stops down the stretch to earn a 79-75 victory over Missouri Southern before a season-high crowd of 2,477 at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Senior guard Mariun Price tallied 18 points to lead four players in double figures for the Lions (13-8, 7-7 MIAA), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Sophomore forward Jason Adams, who torched the Griffons for 34 points in their previous meeting, contributed 16 points, including 10 in the final eight minutes. He also had two steals and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Lions controlled the boards by a 44-30 margin
Junior guard Skyler Bowlin popped in four of the Lions’ 3-point goals and finished with 15 points, six assists and two steals, and sophomore center Keane Thomann collected 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
“We all share the ball and shoot the ball well,” Price said. “We establish Keane and ‘Q’ (DaRell Crittendon) on the inside, Jason gets out in transition and Skyler spots up and shoots the ball well.
“Missouri Western is a good team, and we knew that coming in. It means a lot to protect the home floor and beat a team ahead of us in the standings. They are a very worthy opponent, and we are happy to get out with a four-point win.”
Missouri Western’s Dominique Thuston, 6-foot-6 junior forward, scored 10 points in the first seven minutes and captured game honors with 21 points for Missouri Western (14-8, 9-6), which suffered its fifth consecutive road loss in 2010.
Marcus Rhodes and James Bush scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the Griffons, and Quentin Noblin had 12 — all in the first half.
The Griffons shot 57 percent from the field and hit 6-of-9 3-point attempts while building a 39-36 halftime lead. But in the second half, the Griffons went just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
“We were getting split at the top, and there is no way you can help out in the paint and recover to the guy in the corner,” Lions head coach Robert Corn said. “They were getting a wide-open jump shots and they were making them. The second half we did a better job.”
The Lions caught the Griffons at 42-42 less than two minutes into the second half, and there were three lead changes and a tie before the Lions broke away for a 63-53 lead with 8:02 remaining. In a span of just under two minutes, Rich Borries scored on the inside, Bowlin’s steal and assist set up Price’s layup and free throw for a three-point play, Bowlin drilled a trey from the top of the key off an out-of-bounds play and Adams hit a jumper from the right baseline.
But the Griffons responded with a 10-2 run to cut the Lions’ lead to 65-63 with 5:33 left after Thuston’s two free throws.
“We didn’t do a good job once we got the 10-point lead,” Corn said. “They went down and scored, then we had a nonchalant turnover that led right to a basket. We quit attacking for a while ... and before long the 10-point lead was gone.”
The Lions never relinquished the lead, but the Griffons pulled within two points two more times, the last one at 75-73 on Bush’s layup with 28 seconds left.
The Griffons fouled Adams, and he hit two free throws for a four-point margin. Thuston then missed a jumper in the lane with 12 seconds to play, and Adams’ breakaway one-handed slam with seven seconds left provided the exclamation point for the Lions.
“Once we got late in the game, when it was a one- or two-possession game, you have to come up with the key stop or the tough rebound in traffic,” Price said. “That’s what we wanted to do.”
Both teams struggled at the foul line most of the game; in fact, they were a combined 5-of-16 midway through the second half. But the Lions hit 8-of-8 charities in the final five minutes to finish 12-of-18, and the Griffons wound up 4-of-11.
The Lions play host to Pittsburg State at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
