Lions dig from deep hole, knock off Pitt State

Box Score

The Lions trailed by 14 at halftime and Pittsburg State proceeded to outscore MSSU 21-7 to open the second half en route to a 71-43 lead with 13:40 to play. Southern started the second half by missing on six of its first nine shots, and compounded things with four turnovers. But from there the Lions (9-6, 2-2 MIAA) recovered, shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) the rest of the way and committing just two turnovers.

Senior G Quentin Edwards scored all 13 of his second-half points during a game-ending 25-4 MSSU run over the final 7:03. In all, it was a 43-13 outburst for the Lions over the game's last 13:18. Junior F Ed Miles hit two three-pointers in the last 6:40 and had two big buckets in the final 30 seconds, including the go-ahead triple with 19.2 seconds to play. Missouri Southern connected on a season-high 10 three-pointers, seven of which came after halftime.

The Gorillas' second-half fortunes went the opposite way of the Southern's. PSU, which made eight of its first 12 shots to open the final stanza, converted just 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) over the final 12 minutes and missed its final six shots from the field. Pittsburg State senior G Eddie Jackson, who pumped in 38 points -- 26 in the first half -- missed a guarded 25-footer as time expired.

Pittsburg State (5-10, 1-3 MIAA) took control midway through the first half with a 9-0 burst that was fueled by seven points from Jackson. At one point in the first half, Jackson scored 15 straight Gorilla points and he accounted for 26 of his team's 37 points over a 13-minute stretch.

PSU led by 13, at 38-25, with 4:38 to play in the first half. The Lions got it back down to six with a 9-2 burst that featured five points from Edwards. But Pitt State ended the first half on a 10-2 rally that was sparked by a dunk from Edward Morris and threes from Jackson and Andy Wachter.

The Lions were led by Edwards' career-high 27 points, which came on 8-of-13 shooting and a perfect 9-for-9 at the charity stripe. Miles added 13 points off the bench and sophomore G Daron Harris came off the bench for 11 points, including nine after halftime. Sophomore G Tyler Ryerson had a game-high 10 assists and senior C Dan Jones tallied a game-high eight rebounds.

In addition to Jackson's 36 points, his third straight 30-point outing, Pitt State got 16 from Edward Morris and 10 from Daniel Blair. Jackson was 11-of-22 from the field, 6-for-13 from long range, and 10-of-11 at the foul line. Morris made 6-of-7 shots from the floor.

The win marked the Lions' 11th victory in the last 16 games against PSU, but it was only their third in the last 10 vs. PSU in John Lance Arena. It was the third straight MSSU victory in the series and the second straight time Southern has come from at least 19 down in the second half to escape with a victory. In the 2005 MIAA Postseason Tournament quarterfinals, Missouri Southern came from a 38-19 second-half hole to win, 63-61.