JOPLIN – Cam Martin moved into third-place on the Missouri Southern all-time scoring list as the Southern men’s basketball team took out visiting Central Missouri 86-67 today on Robert Corn Court inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (10-7, 10-7 MIAA) was led by Martin’s 29 points on 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-9 from long-range. Martin was also 6-of-6 from the free throw line and added seven rebounds. He now has 1,909 points in his career and passed Carl Tyler for the all-time scoring mark. Next up for Martin is Jason Adams with 1,981 points.
Stan Scott scored 19 points and added five rebounds and six assists, while RJ Smith had 13 points and five rebounds. Christian Bundy had a game-high nine rebounds.
Central Missouri (6-10, 6-10 MIAA) had three in double-figures led by 15 from Koray Gilbert.
Southern jumped out to a 14-7 lead after a three from Scott with 14:17 left on the first-half clock. A three from Christian Bundy made the score 17-9, Lions with 12:27 left and a jumper from Smith with 9:39 on the clock made the score 21-16.
The Mules got within three (21-18), but the Lions went on a 12-0 run capped by a pair of freebies from Martin to lead 33-18 with 5:49 to go. A fast-break layup from Scott with about a minute to go in the half gave the Lions a 42-30 lead, which ended up being the halftime score.
A pair of free throws from Martin pushed the Southern lead to 15 (45-30), but the Mules got to within six (51-45) at the 12:26 mark. From there, however, it was all Lions. A dunk from Martin with 8:40 left made the score 64-50, while a three for Martin two minutes later gave the Lions a 72-52 lead. A three from Winston Dessesow with 4:40 to go pushed the lead to 27 (82-52) and forced a Central timeout. A late three from the Mules made the final tally 86-67.
The Lions shot 56 percent from the field and 48 percent from long-range. Southern had a 41-28 advantage on the boards and either led or were tied for all by 31 seconds of the game.
Southern will be back in action next Thursday when the Lions travel to St. Joseph to take on Missouri Western. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.
Source: https://mssulions.com/news/2021/2/6/mens-basketball-powers-past-central-missouri-86-67
