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Southern can't capitalize late, falls to NWMSU JOPLIN, Mo. -- Northwest Missouri State left the door open, but Missouri Southern couldn't capitalize late in the game Saturday, and the Bearcats held on for a 52-50 grind-it-out victory at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. In a low-scoring MIAA affair, the two teams combined to make just 41 of 120 field goal attempts (34 percent). The squads teamed up for 35 turnovers and only 17 assists, and together made barely over half of their free throw tries. The Bearcats continued that trend of poor free throw shooting in the closing two minutes, making just three of six. That left the door open for the Lions, but Southern misfired on each of its last four shots from the field and committed a pair of turnovers. Six seconds after turning the ball over with his team looking for the go-ahead bucket, senior Quentin Edwards came up empty on a potential tying 14-footer at the buzzer. Northwest led 36-31 with 9:17 gone in the second half. But Missouri Southern scored on five of its next six possessions while ripping off a 10-0 run over the next 3:32. That led Southern to a 36-31 edge and the team would continue maintain the advantage over the next three-plus minutes. The two teams traded the lead five times over the final three minutes, but Northwest went in front for good when Austin Meyer, held to just two points over the game's first 39:26, canned 3-of-4 free throws in the last 34 seconds. The Lions shot only 28 percent in the first half and trailed the Bearcats, who made only 30 percent of their opening-half shots, 24-17 at intermission. Missouri Southern led by as many as five in the first half, but Northwest took charge with a 16-4 run over the final 10:30, limiting the Lions to jut one field goal over the half's final 8:15. Edwards finished with 13 points and five steals to lead the Lions (9-7, 2-3 MIAA). Junior Ed Miles added 11 points off the bench. Senior Dan Jones barely missed a double-double, charting nine points and 11 rebounds. The Bearcats (13-3, 4-1), who won despite being out-shot by Southern 37.5 to 31.3 percent, had only one representative in double figures. Junior guard Mose Howard had 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Redshirt freshman Hunter Henry had 10 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass.
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