ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western men's basketball team rallied from a nine-point second half deficit Saturday night to upset No. 17 Missouri Southern 89-85 inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons have now won nine of their last 10 games as they improve to 16-12 and 12-5 in the MIAA.
It was a night for redemption as Missouri Western made 21 of their final 22 free throws and missed just four all night. It came one week after MWSU went 14 for 26 at the line in a loss at Missouri Southern that saw the Lions make 31 of 35 foul shots.
Tyus Millhollin made nine free throws with just one miss on his last attempt over the final three minutes of the game. Tony Chukwuemeke, who entered the night 1 for 5 at the line all season, made four-straight free throws to help seal the upset win. The victory secured the program its first winning season since the 2009-10 season and the 16 regular season wins are still the most for MWSU since '09-10.
Southern took its last lead of the game on two free throws by Cam Martin with 7:31 left in the game, 64-63. Reese Glover put MWSU up 66-64 on a 3-pionter with 7:09 remaining. The game was tied for the final time with 2:09 left before Tyrell Carroll knocked down a three to put MWSU up for good. Carroll's dagger and Chukwuemeke's fourth straight foul shot bookended an 11-4 Griffon run that put MWSU up by seven with 11 seconds to go – MWSU's largest lead of the night. Cam Martin cut the MWSU lead to 88-85 with eight seconds left, but Millhollin's final free throw of the night secured the program's first win over a ranked opponent since 2013 (79-74 at No. 17 Washburn).
NOTABLES
- The win marked the ninth for the Griffons in their last 10 games
- The game featured 16 lead changes and 15 ties
- It moved MWSU to 11-0 at home and into a tie for third place in the MIAA standings with Missouri Southern
- The Griffons got 36 points from their bench to just two from the Southern bench
- Missouri Western out-rebounded the Lions 38-29, made one more field goal and three more free throws
- In the second half, MWSU went 21 for 23 at the free throw line after going 2 for 4 in the first
- Millhollin scored 20 points in the second half to finish with 22 on the night. He drew 10 fouls and went 12 for 13 at the line. The senior guard recorded six assists for the second straight game.
- Carroll led MWSU with 23 points and three steals
- Glover finished with 16 points on 4 of 8 shooting from long range and 6 of 10 shooting from the field. He and JaRon Thames tied for the team lead with six rebounds each, a career-high for Glover.
- Chukwuemeke gave the Griffons big-time minutes (24:04) with Tyree Martin and Alex John both fouling out. The big man scores six points with three rebounds.
- Southern's Cam Martin scored 54 points and pulled down 12 rebounds one week after scoring 45 with 10 rebounds against the Griffs
UP NEXT
Missouri Western puts its perfect home record on the line against No. 1 Northwest Missouri State (26-1, 16-1) on Feb. 25. The game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
--- MWSU Athletics ---