Missouri State seniors Dale Lamberth and Deven Mitchell turned in career-high scoring efforts to lead the Bears to an 86-67 victory over a resilient Harding University squad Friday evening in the second game of the 21st annual Price Cutter Classic at Hammons Student Center.
Mitchell scored 24 points, converting 12-of-13 free throw attempts and going 6-of-9 from the field. The Springfield Kickapoo product also grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists, blocked two shots and recorded four steals. He totaled nine points during a 23-8 first-half scoring run that turned a two-point Missouri State lead into a 35-18 advantage.
Lamberth topped the 20-point plateau for the first time in his Missouri State career by knocking down 7-of-11 attempts from the floor in totaling 21 points. He also matched Mitchell for game-high rebounding honors with six.
Leading just 12-10, the Bears got a scoring run started with Justin Fuehrmeyer’s layup at the 13:15 mark of the first half. The Bears’ scoring run ultimately gave them a 35-18 lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. Missouri State would lead by as many as 20 points in the first period before settling for a 49-35 advantage at the break after forcing 16 Harding turnovers and shooting 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field.
Harding trimmed Missouri State’s lead to 11 points with an 11-2 spurt early in the second stanza. Chris Dixon keyed the run by scoring six of his 14 points. But the Bears answered with a 10-0 run, getting six more points from Mitchell to put the game out of reach.
Missouri State shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from the field and scored 31 points off 32 Harding turnovers to earn their first victory of the 2007-08 season.
Five Bears finished in double figures on the night. Shane Laurie scored 12 points, while Fuehrmeyer and Spencer Laurie each contributed 10 points.
Drew Richards just missed joining that group by tallying nine points. But the senior center’s biggest contribution came on the defensive end as he registered a career-best six blocks, tying him with eight other Bears for the third-highest single-game block total all-time at Missouri State.
Harding hit 11-of-30 three-point attempts in the loss, as senior forward Matt Hall led the way for the Bisons with 24 points.
The Bears (1-1) will be back in action Saturday (Nov. 17) when they meet the winner of Friday’s first game, North Carolina Greensboro at 8:05 p.m. The Spartans rode Kyle Hines’s 19-point, 11-rebound night to a 70-56 win over Texas-Pan American. UTPA will take on Harding in Saturday’s opener at 5:35 p.m.
