Employing a familiar pattern of offensive efficiency and defensive tenacity, the Missouri State basketball Bears rolled to an 80-60 victory over Indiana State Saturday night in Hammons Student Center in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams. The 27th-ranked Bears logged their fifth win in a row to hike their season mark to 9-1 while Indiana State fell to 5-4.
The Bears won their 13th home game in a row in what is the longest Missouri State home winning streak in 15 seasons. It matches the fourth longest HSC winning streak ever for Missouri State. The Bears’ record for consecutive wins in Hammons is 17, set from 1987 to 1989. Indiana State fell to 0-17 all-time in HSC as the only Valley team which has never won on the Bears’ floor.
The Bears held ISU to .345 (19/55) shooting from the floor, marking the fifth game in a row and seventh in the past eight Missouri State has kept its foe below 40 percent from the field. ISU hit 40 percent in the first half but only 30 percent after the intermission. The Bears were consistent all night, hitting .542 the first half and .536 the second half to finish with a .538 (28/52) figure.
Ignited by three-pointers by Blake Ahearn and Tyler Chaney, the Bears bolted from an 18-all tie 11 minutes into the game with an 18-4 run that made it 36-22 in a span of five minutes. The Bears led 41-32 at halftime and got the first seven points of the second half to push their advantage to 16. Indiana State couldn’t get closer than 11 the rest of the way and the final 20-point margin was Missouri State’s biggest lead of the contest.
Balance was again the key for the Bears on offense with Ahearn leading the way with 19 points as he connected on 4-of-6 three-point tries. Chaney scored 17, Drew Richards was perfect in six field goal attempts and added 13 points while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds and Dale Lamberth came off the bench to score 11. Marico Stinson led Indiana State with 17 points and rebounds in the contest were even at 32-32. Ahearn also had three assists and three steals and Spencer Laurie was again the Bears’ assist leader with seven.
Missouri State, now 7-0 at home, plays its next four games on the road, including two outings next week. Missouri State goes to Saint Louis University Monday (Dec. 18) to take on the Billikens, and then goes to South Florida next Friday (Dec. 22). Tipoff at Saint Louis is 7:05 p.m.
