Dale Lamberth’s 22-point first half, fashioned on perfect shooting, fired the Missouri State basketball Bears to a 27-point intermission lead and the Bears went on to a 91-67 win over the Arkansas Tech University Wonder Boys Thursday night in Hammons Student Center in the Bears’ exhibition opener for the 2007-08 season.

A senior forward from Oklahoma City, Okla., Lamberth included four treys among seven field goals and added four free throws to score 22 points in 12 minutes of action without missing a shot as the Bears jumped out to a 52-25 halftime lead. Lamberth finished the contest with 26 points in 19 minutes in the game.

The Bears’ starting front line of Lamberth, forward Deven Mitchell and center Drew Richards combined for 41 of the Bears’ 52 first-half points. Richards finished with 14 points in the game as the Bears’ only other double-figure scorer, hitting all three of his field goal tries and 8-of-10 free throws. Richards led the rebounding with eight while Lamberth pulled down seven and Mitchell had six boards to go with eight points.

All 14 players on the Bears’ roster saw action in the contest and the only player who didn’t score--freshman David Cline--yanked down five rebounds. Lamont Austin, Shane Laurie and Wade Knapp had eight points each and Chris Cooks had five assists. Darren Tarver led Arkansas Tech with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Led by the perfect shooting of Lamberth, the Bears sizzled at 53 percent from the field the first half and finished the game at 46 percent. The MSU defense held the visitors to 32 percent accuracy from the floor and the Bears managed a slim 50-47 rebound margin. Free throw line accuracy was not at a premium as the two teams combined for just 45-of-78 (.567) from the line as 61 fouls were whistled in the contest.

The Bears return to action in their second exhibition test Monday (Nov. 6) when they host St. Gregory’s University in Hammons in a 7:05 p.m. contest. Missouri State opens its regular season Nov. 10 at Toledo.