MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Missouri Southern men’s basketball team used a huge second-half and the Lions are in the NCAA Division II Region Finals for the first time since 2000 as Southern defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State today 92-83 inside Bearcat Arena in Maryville.
Southern (25-7) will be in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1999-00 season when the Lions won the regional and advanced to the Final Four.
Cam Martin led the scoring attack for Southern as he finished with 34 points and 18 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season. Martin now has 700 points this season and joins Taevaunn Prince as the only two Missouri Southern players to score 700 or more points in a single-season.
Kinzer Lambert scored 25 points and had eight rebounds, while Braelon Walker scored 13 on 3-of-4 shooting from long-range.
Southeastern (23-8) was led in scoring by Kevin Buckingham who had 33 points and eight rebounds.
The Lions trailed by 12 (52-50) at the break but outscored Southeastern 52-31 in the second half for the come-from-behind win.
The two teams traded points early on and a three from Walker tied the score at 12 with 15:47 to go in the half. Southeastern answered, however, and went on a 9-0 run and led 21-12 with 13 minutes left on the clock. A three from Clark with 12:21 left got the Lions back within four (21-17), but Southeastern went back up 14 (31-17) with ten minutes to go.
The Lions got back within seven (40-33) after a three from Walker with 4:47 on the clock, but Southeastern closed the half on a 12-7 run to lead 52-40 going into the locker room.
Southeastern led by 13 (60-47) with 17 minutes to play, but the Lions went on an 14-3 run to get within two (63-61) after a bucket from Martin with 11:27 to go on the clock. Southeastern went back up six (67-61) with ten minutes on the clock, but a dunk from Martin on a put back gave the Lions a 70-69 lead with 7:45 to go.
A pair of free throws from Martin gave the Lions a 74-72 lead with 6:35 to play, and after a defensive stop on a Clark steal, Lambert drained a three to give the Lions a 77-72 lead with 5:46 left. A three from Parker Jennings put the Lions up eight (82-74) with 3:46 on the clock, and the Lions led 84-79 with just a minute to go when a defensive stop gave Southern the ball.
Martin was fouled and made both shots, while Lambert made a pair of his own the next trip down to give the Lions an 88-79 lead with 40 seconds to go. Southern held strong at the line and made all eight free-throws it attempted in the final minute of the game to seal the win.
The Lions shot 44 percent from the field in the first half, but caught on fire in the second half, making 17-of-29 shots from the field at a 59 percent clip. Southern finished the game 50 percent from the field, 43 percent from the three-point line and 86 percent from the free throw line. The Lions out rebounded Southeastern 44-30, including 16-10 on the offensive boards, leading to a 22-14 advantage in second-chance points. The Lions had a 44-24 advantage in points in the paint.
Southern will now go on to the regional final on Tuesday night as the Lions will face the winner of Northwest Missouri and Southern Nazarene at 7 pm from Bearcat Arena. For fans not able to make it to Maryville, there will be a watch party in the North Endzone Facility on the campus of Missouri Southern.
