Southern opens season with 21-point victory

Box Score

Missouri Southern held the Spartans (1-5) scoreless over the game's first 8:55 and led by as many as 22 points (26-4) in the first 12 minutes. Central Bible chipped the lead down to 17 points by halftime.

The Spartans continued their comeback in the second half with a 13-2 run over a span of 2:02 to pull within six. After a pair of free throws from MSSU senior Jeremie Bond made it 59-50, CBC went on a 10-3 burst to pull within 62-60 with 9:32 to play.

The Lions responded with an 8-0 burst, keyed by four points from Bond and capped by a dunk from senior Dan Jones to make it 70-60. The Spartans would never get closer than nine points over the final six minutes.

Central Bible hit eight threes in the first 10:28 of the second half and got a combined 37 points in the span from guards Will Kitchen (13), Kendall Alfaro (14) and Arjay Johnson (10). In fact, the trio scored 41 of the Spartans' 43 second-half points. Only eight points of CBC's total point production came from others on the roster.

Missouri Southern (1-0) had four players in double figures, led by Edwards, who scored eight of the Lions' first 10 points and finished with 24. Jones finished with his first career double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) and junior Ed Miles added 14 more points. Bond would finish with 10 points.

Kitchen and Alfaro had 24 points apiece for the Spartans, while Johnson added 10 more.

Missouri Southern continues at home on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when it hosts Southwestern Oklahoma State.