The Illinois State Redbirds got a superlative performance from guard Dom Johnson, including the two game-winning free throws in the last half minute, to trip the Missouri State Bears 64-63 in Missouri Valley Conference basketball action Saturday night in Hammons Student Center.
  Johnson hit a driving layup from the right side with 1:08 remaining to put his team ahead 62-61, and, after Chris Cooks of the Bears answered with two free throws at the 38-second mark. Johnson got to the foul line with 25 seconds left and dropped in the game-winners. Cooks missed a layup try for the Bears in the closing seconds and Illinois State came away with the ball and the win.
 Johnson, who hadn’t had more than three three-point baskets in a game this season with only three contests in which he’d scored more than 11, fired home a season-high 23 points, hitting 8-of-12 field goal tries and nailing 5-of-7 from three-point range. Illinois State stayed in second in the MVC standings with the win as the Redbirds bounced back from having dropped three of their previous four games to get to 8-3 in the Valley and 16-6 for the season.
 The Bears lost their third game in a row and fell to 11-12 for the year and 4-7 in Valley play. It was Missouri State’s second one-point loss on its home floor this season to go with 10 wins in Hammons. The Bears are below the .500 mark for the first time since they began the season 0-1, and ended a string of five straight wins over Illinois State.
 It was another typically close Valley battle with 10 ties and 14 lead changes. The Bears had their biggest lead of the night at 51-47 with 9:27 to play, and, after Johnson answered with a three at the 9:05 mark to cut it to 51-50, neither team led by more than two the rest of the way. There were five ties and eight lead changes from that point until the end, with Spencer Laurie hitting a trey from the left side with 1:52 left to give Missouri State a 61-60 advantage before Johnson took over for ISU.
 The Bears trailed by nine at 20-11 eight minutes into the game but a trio of treys on consecutive possessions by Dale Lamberth got Missouri State even at 20-20 midway in the half and the Bears took a 34-33 lead into the locker room.
 Osiris Eldridge helped ISU with 17 points and Anthony Slack grabbed a dozen rebounds for the Redbirds. Lamberth wound up with 20 points for Missouri State and Deven Mitchell, after getting the Bears’ first eight points in the opening five minutes of the contest, ended the night with 13.
 The Bears go back on the road for their next outing, a Valley game Wednesday (Feb. 6) at Bradley. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m.
