Lions win on buzzer beater

Hallman`s buzzer-beater lifts Lions, 61-60 Box Score JOPLIN -- Senior G Aubrie Hallman hit a running, spinning 14-footer as time expired, lifting Missouri Southern to a 61-60 victory over Southwest Baptist Saturday at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. Hallman`s winning bucket followed a pair of made free throws with 6.4 seconds left by Southwest Baptist senior G Amber Wheeler, who scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the final 3:56. Hallman took the ensuing inbounds pass and raced up the floor through traffic until she approached the free throw line at the MSSU goal. She spun right and released the shot with six-tenths of a second to go. The victory gave Southern a berth in next month`s MIAA Postseason Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The Lions trailed for much of the game but never by more than eight. Southwest Baptist (9-14, 3-11 MIAA) ended the first half on an 11-4 run and led 33-25 at the break after Wheeler canned a jumper just before the buzzer. The Lady Bearcats shot 45.8 percent in the opening stanza. Southern began the second half with an 8-0 run, but SBU quickly pushed the margin back to six points and maintained the lead until the final five minutes, when the Lions used a 6-0 spurt, capped by a three-pointer from sophomore G Andrea Gossard to take a 52-49 lead. Wheeler hit two three-pointers in the final 1:45 with each swinging the lead back to the Lady Bearcats. But Missouri Southern senior F Vonny Wilson scored seven points in the final 3:14 to keep things close. Wilson and junior G Nicole Greninger each scored 11 second-half points and Hallman added eight more. Wilson, who played only seven minutes in the first half after being saddled with two early fouls, finished with 18 to pace the Lions. Greninger and Hallman added 14 and 13 points, respectively. While Wheeler`s 20 points led SBU, Hancock added 11. SBU shot just 31.3 percent in the second half, while MSSU made 51.9 percent, including 5-of-11 from three-point range.