LIONS BACK ON WINNING TRACK

Lions come from behind, defeat Southwest Baptist Box Score BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Unable to get untracked in the first half, the Missouri Southern offense got a little help from the defense. Southern`s defensive unit, after giving up 256 total yards in the first half, clamped down on the Southwest Baptist Bearcats on Saturday, limiting them to 91 after halftime. That enabled the Lions to score 26 unanswered points, including 20 in the fourth quarter of a 26-22 victory at SBU`s Plaster Stadium. It was the largest come-from-behind triumph for MSSU since Oct. 2, 1993, when Southern rallied from a 23-0 second-quarter deficit to defeat Truman, 41-37. Mistakes limited the Lions early as five of their first seven drives ended with a turnover, including four of six possessions in the first half. Southwest Baptist turned two of the Southern first-half miscues into touchdowns and built a 22-0 lead with 7:39 left before halftime. But just before the half, MSSU (5-4, 4-3 MIAA) got the momentum boost it needed with a 12-play, 62-yard scoring drive, kept alive with a conversion on fourth-and-5, a Lion recovery of a Nathan Emert fumble and a personal foul on SBU. The Lions capped the drive with a Wentric Williams` 3-yard scoring run, trimming the Bearcat lead to 22-6 at halftime. The two teams combined for three punts, three more series lost on downs and just 96 total yards in the third quarter The Lions also threw an interception on their first play from scrimmage after the half and SBU missed a 34-yard field goal. But near the end of the period, Southern began to finally hit its stride offensively, driving 76 yards in nine plays. True freshman wide receiver Colin Bado capped the series with his first career touchdown on a 19-yard, fourth-quarter run. Emert hit senior DeMarcus Mathes with the two-point conversion pass, and suddenly the Lions had it down to a one-score game, 22-14. The Bearcats (2-7, 1-6) would fumble away their next play from scrimmage and the Lions needed only three plays to go 34 yards on a drive again aided by SBU personal fouls. Williams finished off the drive with a 1-yard scoring burst, his second score of the day. Emert`s two-point conversion pass failed, and SBU maintained a 22-20 lead with 12:50 still to play. After the Bearcats were forced to punt their next possession, Southern gave it right back on its next play from scirmmage with its fourth interception of the day. But three plays later, freshman nose guard Bobby Odior picked off Robert Clardy screen pass and returned it 24 yards to the SBU 43. Three plays after that, the Lions had their first and only lead of the day as Bado found paydirt again, this time on a 26-yard scoring pass from Emert. SBU drove to its own 44 on the following sequence, but Clardy`s fourth-down pass for Travis Howry fell incomplete and the Lions got one first down and drained the clock. JoJo Rawls opened the scoring just 4:17 into the contest on a 77-yard touchdown run. After an Emert fumble, the Bearcats cashed in with an 8-yard scoring run from Deon Boykin, his first of two on the day, and held a 14-0 lead at the end of one quarter. Boykin`s second touchdown was a 3-yard burst following an interception by Michael Pearl. On the Lions` second possession of the third quarter, Emert became the new MSSU single-season leader in passing yardage. He hit tight end Aaron McNealy on a 5-yard completion with 10:17 left in the quarter. That completion gave Emert 2,640 passing yards this season, and surpassed the old mark of 2,637 yards set by Matt Cook in 1991. After nine games this season, Emert has 2,726 passing yards, including 256 on 26 completions Saturday. Overshadowed in the victory was a coming out party for redshirt freshman Otis Taylor, son of the former Kansas City Chiefs` great of the same name. The younger Taylor, who entered the game with seven catches for 93 yards this year, doubled his seasonal output, with eight receptions for 93 yards as the Lions went into battle minus two key receivers. Junior Tyson Basore is out for the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone and senior Craig Winfrey missed the game with a concussion. Another Lion receiver got closer to an MSSU great. Mathes caught five passes for 55 yards, moving to within one of tying Rod Smith`s regular season record of 63 receptions set in 1993. Mathes needs seven more catches to pass Smith`s single-season (all games) record of 68 catches, also set in `93. The victory boosted Southern back into a third-place tie in the MIAA standings. Likely, the third-place finisher in the MIAA this year will get a berth in the Dec. 4 Mineral Water Bowl, an annual game played in Excelsior Springs, Mo. between the highest-finishing, non-playoff-qualifying teams from the MIAA and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Courtesy: MSSU Sports Information