Skip To Main Content

University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

Corbey R. Dorsey
67
Neb.-Kearney UNK 7-14, 2-10 MIAA
72
Winner Mo. Southern St. MSSU 18-5, 9-4 MIAA
Neb.-Kearney UNK
7-14, 2-10 MIAA
67
Final
72
Mo. Southern St. MSSU
18-5, 9-4 MIAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Neb.-Kearney UNK 42 25 67
Mo. Southern St. MSSU 43 29 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Mo Southern Wins Game of Runs, 72-67

Kearney, Neb. – Missouri Southern State was strong early and late to hold off Nebraska-Kearney, 72-67, Thursday night in Joplin.

The Lions (18-5, 9-4) improve to 11-0 at home while the Lopers fall to 7-14 (2-9) and to 2-6 in games decided by five points or less.

MSSU came in with four players standing at least 6-9 and 230 pounds. Due to injuries, two didn't go and another went just five minutes. One of the DNP's was sophomore Cam Martin (21.7 points & 8.9 rebounds per game).

The Lions adjusted to the lineup changes as they jumped out to a 28-8 lead seven minutes in. The Lopers did hit two early threes and then erupted for eight more over the next 13 minutes to trail by just a 43-42 score at the break. The 10 of 18 three point shooting is one of the best shooting stretches by UNK this season.

MSSU overcame the 10 bombs by hitting eight of their own and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds. That strong board work led to 19 second chance points.

"That's a really good team. Their guards are tough and hard to stay in front of … the big guy (Enis Memic) was a force and he normally is the backup," said Loper head coach Kevin Lofton. "They did a tremendous job with offensive rebounds. That was their life blood early in the game."

UNK managed a 7-4 o-board advantage in the second half and held the Lions to a 9 of 23 (39%) shooting effort from the field. Now a back and forth game, the Lopers went on an 11-2 run to open a 58-49 lead with 12:57 to play. This last UNK spurt featured two buckets by both Bellevue junior AJ Jackson and Lincoln sophomore Sam Morris.

However, MSSU outscored UNK by a 20-2 margin over the next eight minutes. Kearney went 1 of 13 from the floor during this stretch along with five fouls and a turnover.

Down eight with 3:55 left, UNK took advantage of four turnovers to give itself a chance to tie the game at 70. Running the same play that almost worked to perfection against Missouri Western State, Iowa junior Kyle Juhl went to the left wing to setup for a three. However, it was ruled he stepped out of bounds coming off a baseline screen. MSSU hit two subsequent free throws to finish the scoring.

"It didn't look good early on but give it to our kids. They fought back and got themselves back in it," said Lofton. "But they scored in bunches and they were able to get it going midway through the second half. We really couldn't hold them off after that."

Plus 11 on the glass, MSSU got double doubles from the 6-9, 235 pound Memic (19 points & 15 rebounds) and 2018 All-MIAA pick Elyjah Clark (13 points & 10 rebounds) as well as 20 points from 6-4 junior guard Kinzer Lambert.

Juhl went 4 of 9 from behind the arc to lead UNK with 16 points. Coming off a career-high 22 points last Saturday, Jackson remained hot and tallied 15 with Aurora freshman Henry Penner going 3 of 4 from downtown to tally 11 off the bench. Finally, Kearney finished 11 of 30 from the three point line. The 11 makes are one off the season-high with the 30 attempts 10 shy of tying the school record.

"We had some really good looks (during that eight-minute stretch). The same looks we were getting in the first half but we just went ice cold," said Lofton. "We really weren't get anything around the basket with our post players. So we ended up taking a lot of jump shots."

UNK heads to Pittsburg State Saturday afternoon. The Gorillas (14-8, 7-6) lost tonight to Fort Hays State, 77-75.
 
Print Friendly Version