MIAA Men's Basketball Wrap: December 10

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009

Southwest Baptist 83, Missouri Southern 67
JOPLIN, Mo. (MSSU Sports Information) - The Missouri Southern basketball team shot 34 percent from the field and just 13 percent from long range as 13th ranked Southwest Baptist defeated the Lions, 83-67 in front of more than 1,600 fans at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center in Joplin.

Southern (6-2, 1-2 MIAA) lost for the eighth-straight time to the Bearcats (10-2, 1-1 MIAA) as SBU evened its MIAA record at 1-1.

The Lions had four players score in double figures, led by Jason Adams with 15 points. Keane Thomann had his second-straight career-high in points as the sophomore scored 14 on 7-10 shooting from the field. He pulled down eight rebounds and added a block. Mariun Price had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Skyler Bowlin added 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.

SBU's Matt Rogers nearly missed a triple double, scoring 23 points, blocking 10 shots, while pulling down eight rebounds. Tomas Brock scored 22, while Kurtis Koenig had 21.

Fort Hays State 78, Northwest Missouri 66
HAYS, Kan. (FHSU Sports Information) -- On just one day of rest following a 60-point blowout of Tabor College on Monday, the Fort Hays State men's basketball squad defeated Northwest Missouri State in conference play on Wednesday (Dec. 9) by a score of 78-66. It was the first test for the Tigers as a nationally ranked team, after jumping into the Division II poll at #22 in the nation Tuesday.

Ken Bowman led the Tigers with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Corbin Kuntzsch also broke the 20-point barrier, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. Willie Hassell (15) and Dominique Jones (11) also reached double figures in scoring.

Guard play did the majority of the damage for Northwest Missouri, with Girod Adams scoring 17 points and Edriss Floyd scoring 16 points. The pair accounted for half of the team's points.

Truman 89, Hannibal-La Grange 74
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (TSU Media Relations) -- The Truman Men's Basketball team used a 10-2 run midway through the second half to pull away from Hannibal-LaGrange College on Wednesday night in Pershing Arena The Bulldogs defeated the Trojans 89-74.

Alex Henderson scored a game-high 18 points and led four Bulldogs in double figures as Truman picked up their second straight win.  Tom Norton added 15 points while Andrew James and Ethan Freeman each had 14.  Stefan Garrison dropped in 12.

Newman 80, Emporia State 77
EMPORIA, Kan. (ESU Media Relations) -- The Emporia State men's basketball team came back from down 16 down to start the second half, but could not complete the comeback falling 80-77 to Newman. ESU shot only .421 on the night while the Jets shot .614 for the game.

Jeremiah Box finished with 16 points to pace the Hornets and also finished with seven rebounds. Adam Holthaus and Tim Niles added 14 points for ESU. Dustin Andrews finished with ten points. Holthaus finished with six rebounds while Niles added six assists and four steals.

Monday, Dec. 7, 2009

Fort Hays State 109, Tabor 49
HAYS, Kan. (FHSU Sports Information) -- The Fort Hays State men's basketball team cruised to a 109-49 win over Tabor College in non-conference action on Monday evening (Dec. 7) in Hays. The Tigers shot a season-high 64.5 percent from the field, including 60 percent from beyond the 3-point line. All 12 Tigers that suited scored in the game.

Dijon Smith had a monster game for the Tigers with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in just 19 minutes of action. He was very efficient, hitting 8-of-10 field goal attempts and went 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. Also scoring in double figures were Dominique Jones and Ben Congiusta, each with 14. Both were 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point line. Ken Bowman had a perfect night shooting, hitting 5-of-5 field goals and 2-of-2 free-throws for 12 points.

Southwest Baptist 99, Central Bible (Mo.) 58
BOLIVAR, Mo. (SBU Media Relations) -- The seventh-ranked SBU Bearcats closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule by thumping the Central Bible College Spartans 99-58. The win extended the Bearcats' home court winning streak to 35 games, the second longest active stretch in Division II.

Kurt Koenig led the Bearcats (9-2, 0-1) with 22 points, which tied his career high. Matt Rogers returned from a two-game absence with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Tristan Steele had 12 points and Tremaine Hill and Jacob French each had 10 for SBU. Koenig also had nine rebounds for the 'Cats, while Ryan Dougherty had four assists and four steals to lead SBU.