Bears defeat the Billikens 73-63

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

by Team Thomas

Solid Second Half Sends Bears to 73-63 Win at Saint Louis

The win gave Missouri State a 10-0 record for the first time since 1996-97 and just the second time in its Division I era.

Mallett's point output was a career best as the Bears improved their overall lead in the series against SLU to 16-7.

After holding a narrow 31-28 lead at the half, the Bears stormed out of the locker room with a 10-2 run to start the second half and quickly gain an 11-point advantage less than four minutes into the second period.

The Bears improved their lead to 13 with 10:12 to play on a three-pointer by Adam Leonard, his second of the game, to pull ahead 51-38. However, the Billikens (7-4) used a flurry of three-pointers that began at the 9:47 mark to pull within 53-49 at the 7:09 mark on Christian Salecich's second three of the half.

The Bears retaliated with a pair of jumpers by Adam Leonard and one by Caleb Patterson and regained a double-figure lead, 59-49 with 5:44 to play. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch secured the win, Missouri State's ninth by a double-figure margin.

Cuonzo Martin's team made 26-of-30 (.867) free throws in the game and fired at a 52.2-percent clip in the second half to finish 22-for-50 (.440).

Weems added 11 for the Bears to extend his double-figure scoring streak to 11 straight games, while Will Creekmore scored 10, including 4-of-4 from the line.

Saint Louis was led by Willie Reed's 19 points, while Salecich and Justin Jordan contributed 15 apiece. The Billikens were 20-for-51 (.392) from the field and 18-of-23 (.783) at the line.

Missouri State closes out its non-conference schedule Tuesday at Arkansas (6-5) for a 7:05 p.m. start.

In the first half, the Bears were able to convert 9-of-11 free throws to help overcome a poor shooting performance, making just 10-of-27 (.370) from the field and just 2-of-11 (.182) from three-point range.

The Bears fought off a brief Billikens' 12-11 lead at the 12:12 mark with a 12-4 run that included buckets by Weems, Mallett and Leonard and eventually led 31-28 at the break.

Missouri State's best-ever season starts: