PITTSBURG, Kan. — Missouri Southern State University men’s basketball team made 16 of 22 second-half shot attempts and took advantage of 19 tries at the free-throw line, making 15 of them, to hold on to an 8-point halftime lead and claim an 83-75 victory on the road in a rivalry matchup Monday at Pittsburg State University.
The Lions led 34-26 at halftime. The lead stayed at 6 or more and got up to as many as 16 throughout the second half until the final minute of play. PSU’s Connor Rogers made a shot with 51 seconds left that cut the lead to 74-70. But the Gorillas were in foul mode trying to extend the game and fouled MSSU's Isaiah Atwater to the free-throw line.
Atwater made both and put MSSU back up by 6 and the Lions went on to seal the win with 7 more free throws. The Lions trailed for just 11 seconds of the entire game, when it was 8-7 in favor of the Gorillas.
MSSU (14-10, 8-7 MIAA) got a game-high 20 points from Gavyn Elkamil and Tyrone Wright. The duo also collected 16 total rebounds, eight apiece. Wright was back in the starting lineup for the first time since a change back in January. The last time Wright had started was Jan. 6, when PSU played at MSSU.
Southern shot 55% (31 of 56) in the game and was 6 for 11 (54%) from beyond the 3-point line. Elkamil shot 4 for 5 from outside. The Lions also got 18 points off the bench from Jaden Taylor. Atwater finished with 14.
Rogers led the Gorillas’ quartet of players scoring in double figures with 19. Mason English added 17, Ethan Sage 16 and Donald Coats 11.
The win moved Southern up to seventh in the MIAA standings and ahead of PSU. Both teams are 8-7 in the conference, but Pitt is now 14-11 overall.
The Lions face Fort Hays State University (17-8, 9-7 MIAA) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and then play the University of Nebraska-Kearney (13-14, 6-10 MIAA) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at home. The Gorillas get Kearney at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Fort Hays at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.