JOPLIN – The Missouri Southern men’s basketball team had four score in double-figures and opened up a 21-point halftime lead en route to an 85-57 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (6-6, 6-6 MIAA) was led offensively by 20 points from Cam Martin as he went 9-of-14 from the field and added five rebounds and a team-high four assists and three blocks. Stan Scott scored 17 points and had a team-high 11 rebounds, while Lawson Jenkins added 15 and Avery Taggart scored 11. RJ Smith had nine points, as well.
UNK (5-8, 5-8 MIAA) was led offensively by 16 points from Jake Walker, while Cedric Johnson chipped in 11.
The Lions scored the first nine points of the game, capped a layup from Scott with 17:54 left in the half. A pair of free throws from Christian Bundy with 15 left put the Lions up 17-6, while a layup from Martin with 11:39 to go put the Southern lead at 21-9. A three from Scott pushed the Lions lead to 13 (24-11), while a three from Lawson Jenkins made the score 29-13 with 9:55 to go.
A jumper from Martin with 2:51 to go made the lead 21 (44-23) and another jumper from Martin gave the Lions a halftime lead of 46-25. The Lions forced the Lopers into three timeouts in the first half.
A three from Avery Taggart with 14:11 left in the 2nd half put the Lions up 57-32 and forced the final timeout for the Lopers. The Lions pushed the lead to 31 (76-45) after a layup from Bundy with 6:03 left and a layup from Jalen Parker with five to go pushed the score to 80-46.
The Lions played the final five minutes of the game with five freshmen on the court (Jenkins, Parker, Taggart, Tyriqe Jackson and Breven McMullen).
The Lions shot 53 percent from the field including 60 percent in the first half. Southern out rebounded the Lopers 48-31 and had a 38-24 advantage in the paint.
Southern will be back in action next week when the Lions travel to Rogers State on Thursday. Tip off is slated for 7:30 pm.
Source: https://mssulions.com/news/2021/1/23/mens-basketball-big-first-half-lifts-lions-over-unk-85-57
