The Missouri State Bears took control of the game through the middle of the second half and then held off a late charge down the stretch to collect their third straight victory in a 60-56 non-conference basketball win over the Saint Louis Billikens Wednesday night in Hammons Student Center.
The Bears improved to 3-1 on the young season with the win, dropped Saint Louis to 4-2, and continued their long domination of the in-state rivalry which began in 1983. Missouri State beat Saint Louis for the eighth time in 11 meetings in Springfield and raised its overall series record against the Bills to 15-7.
Leading 30-19 at halftime after shooting .650 (13/20) from the field in the first half, the Bears built their margin to 41-26 at the 11:41 mark. Missouri State was still up by 14 at 48-34 when a 10-2 run closed Saint Louis to within six at 50-44 with 4:01 remaining. A Drew Richards free throw and a trey by Shane Laurie pushed the MSU lead back to 10 at 54-44, but a three-pointer from Luke Meyer and three long ones in a row by Kevin Lisch cut the gap to three points in the final minute before a late Shane Laurie free throw provided the Bears’ final margin.
Breaking from a 14-10 advantage eight minutes into the game, the Bears pushed out to a 14-point advantage just before halftime on the strength of two threes from Spencer Laurie and combined 8-of-12 shooting from the front line of Richards, Deven Mitchell and Dale Lamberth.
Lisch and Barry Eberhardt each tallied 16 for Saint Louis to lead the game scoring but those two and 11 points each from Meyer and Tommie Liddell III provided all but two of the Bills’ points. The Bears were more balanced, with eight people getting five or more points, led by Lamberth, Mitchell and Shane Laurie with 10 each. Meyer’s 10 rebounds led the Bills to a 26-21 advantage on the boards. Mitchell’s six rebounds paced Missouri State.
 The Bears now face three of their next four games on the road, starting with a visit to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., Sunday (Nov. 25) at 1:00 p.m. (CST).
