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Bears Clutch Down The Stretch, Win On Road At Illinois State

Bears Clutch Down The Stretch, Win On Road At Illinois State

Bears Clutch Down The Stretch, Win On Road At Illinois State

NORMAL, Ill. – Keandre Cook drew a charge and knocked down two clutch 3-pointers, all in the final two minutes to help lead Missouri State to a 67-63 road win in Missouri Valley Conference play Tuesday at Illinois State.

Cook finished with a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, to pace four MSU players in double figures. Gaige Prim also notched 12 points, while Isiaih Mosley and Tulio Da Silva posted 11 points apiece to help the Missouri State (8-8, 2-1 MVC) cause.

The Bears extended a five-point halftime lead to a 40-29 less than four minutes into the second half, using an eight-point outburst by Da Silva out of the intermission to take their biggest lead of the game.

Missouri State’s 11-point lead was short-lived with the Redbirds (6-9, 1-2 MVC) calling a timeout and responding with an 8-3 outburst of their own over the next two minutes to make it 43-37 with 14 minutes to play.

Mosley and Prim answered with quick buckets to give the visitors a 10-point edge once more. The teams then volleyed scores before Lamont West’s 3-pointer with just under 10 minutes remaining gave the Bears a 53-45 advantage.

Illinois State made one last run over the next eight minutes, with Antonio Reeves igniting an 11-2 scoring run by the Redbirds to return the lead back to the home team. Reeves, who led ISU with 16 points, gave Illinois State a 56-55 advantage with a transition layup with 3:55 to play.

Neither team scored again until Prim buried a pair of clutch free throws for MSU with 2:41 to go, briefly returning the lead to coach Dana Ford’s squad. Then ISU’s Ricky Torres got the lead back for his side with a pair of foul shots 30 seconds later, making it 58-57.

But Cook took over down the stretch, drawing a charge on Illinois State star Zach Copeland and burying his third triple of the contest moments later. Down the stretch, he rose up again, knocking down another trey at the 1:18 mark to push MSU ahead by five, and responding to a bucket by Reeves with two pivotal free throws in the final 19 seconds.

Torres gave Illinois State fresh hope with a 3-point basket with 13 seconds to play that made it 65-63, but Missouri State’s Lamont West iced the final two free throws of the night to lock down the four-point victory.

West finished 5-of-5 at the charity stripe to pace a 16-for-19 (.842) effort at the free throw line by the Bears. MSU was also 22-of-62 (.355) from the field, 7-of-24 (.292) from long range, and committed just 9 turnovers.

Tyrik Dixon handed out a season-high 7 assists, while Isiaih Mosley led the Bears with a career-high 8 rebounds.

For its part, Illinois State out-rebounded the Bears by a narrow 35-34 margin and converted 23-of-49 (.469) shots from the field, 7-of-22 (.319) from beyond the arc, and 10-of-17 (.588) at the line.

Joining Torres in double figures for Illinois State were Copeland with 15, Torres with 12 and Jaycee Hillsman with 11.

In the first half, Missouri State overcame a sluggish start by roaring past the Redbirds over the last nine minutes of the half. After Illinois State built a quick 18-7 lead, Missouri State outscored the home squad 23-7 the rest of the way, using solid post defense to rack up 7 steals and converting 4-of-6 field goals down the stretch to lead 30-25 at the intermission.

The Bears return to JQH Arena on Saturday, Jan. 11 to play Northern Iowa at 3 p.m.

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