BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Missouri Western men’s basketball team (6-10, 2-5) held off a second half rally from Southwest Baptist (9-6, 2-4) Thursday and defeated the Bearcats 66-63.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western led by 16 with 11:20 to go in the game, but SBU cut the lead to five 1:13 to go, neither team scored over the final 1:13
– It was Missouri Western’s fifth win in the last seven games
– SBU cut the MWSU lead to single digits on a 5-0 run on all free throws
– Southwest Baptist shot 35 free throws to Missouri Western’s 13
– The Griffons used a 14-1 run to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 16:29 remaining
– Missouri Western hit eight threes and 24 field goals overall; SBU hit five threes and 17 field goals

TOP PERFORMERS
– TJ Evans led Missouri Western with 20 points on 6-13 shooting from the field
– Cole Clearman had 18 points, four made threes and a career-high nine rebounds
– Aaron Emmanuel led Missouri Western with five assists to go with his 12 points

UP NEXT
Missouri Western’s scheduled game at Central Missouri (9-5, 3-3) for this coming Saturday was pushed to Monday, Jan. 16 in Warrensburg.

— MWSU Athletics —