ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team rallied from a seven-point first half deficit Wednesday night inside the MWSU Fieldhouse and they beat Lincoln 65-59.

Lincoln led with 10:30 to go but Western took the lead on a three from Cortrez Colbert with 8:45 left and held on to get the win as they move to 11-12 overall and 7-9 in the MIAA.

Colbert was big in the final minutes, scoring 11 of his season-high 29 points in the final 10 minutes of the game. The senior scored almost half of the team’s final 23 points.

Currie Byrd added 12 points. The freshman dashed Lincoln’s comeback hopes with a three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining that gave the Griffons a four-point lead. The Griffons were outrebounded, 28-24 and shot just 20 percent from three-point range while allowing Lincoln to shoot 54 percent from the field. Those big baskets late extended the Blue Tiger’s losing streak to 16 games and put MWSU in good position to clinch a spot in the MIAA postseason tournament.

Missouri Western will look to avenge a one-point loss to Northwest Missouri State back on Feb. 4 when they travel to Maryville this Saturday.

— MWSU Sports Information —