Lions fall to SBU

SBU holds off Lions, 74-71 Box Score JOPLIN (Feb. 12) -- Sophomore G Martez Young had 14 first-half points and senior G Cedric Ousley had nine after halftime in leading Southwest Baptist to a 74-71 victory over Missouri Southern on Saturday at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Ousley hit two key three-pointers in the final 6:37, helping the Bearcats hold off a Missouri Southern rally. His last three, coming with 4:43 to play, gave SBU the lead for good. The Lions got within two with under a minute to play, but one last triple, this one from junior G Deon Davis, secured the win for the Bearcats (12-11, 6-8 MIAA). Southwest Baptist took a 20-9 lead in the first 7:21 of the game and used a 10-2 run over a stretch of 5:19 in the first half to open a 30-13 margin. Southern scored the game`s next eight points but still trailed by 11, 38-27, with 1:33 to go before halftime. That`s when the Lions took off on a 13-0 run, including the last nine points of the first half and the first four of the second, to take a 40-38 lead 48 seconds into the second half. An Ousley three-pointer gave SBU the lead again, but the lead didn`t swell larger than three until junior G Sheldon Pace scored the first four points of an 8-0 burst by the Bearcats for a 55-47 lead. Southwest Baptist led by seven, 61-54, with 7:47 to go when senior F Orestus Cavness and senior G Hiram Ocasio scored all of the Lions` points in a 10-3 run that knotted the score at 64 with 5:06 left. Ousley stopped the run with the first of his two three-pointers down the stretch. Cavness led all scorers with 20 points, while Ocasio finished with 18 points and five steals. Junior G Quentin Edwards added 13 for the Lions (9-16, 5-9 MIAA). Young finished with 16 to lead SBU. Ousley had 14 points and senior F David Martin 11. Pace logged a double-double with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, missing a triple-double by just two points. Senior C Chris Schulze finished with 13 boards as SBU dominated the glass, to the tune of 50-31.