Dec. 13, 2014 Final Stats
Final Stats | Season Stats | Tickets for EMU Game
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Marcus Marshall scored a game-high 21 points, and Gavin Thurman notched 19 off the bench to help lead Missouri State (5-3) to a 73-61 road win over Southeast Missouri State (5-5) here Saturday.
The Bears also got 16 points from Austin Ruder who made 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Camyn Boone snagged 9 rebounds to help the Bears out-rebound the Redhawks 36-34 in a game the visitors trailed by four at the midway point.
After trailing by as many as seven, the visitors took their first lead of the night on a Dorrian Williams transition layup with 17:46 to go and never fell behind again, using a critical 9-2 run midway through the period to pull ahead by nine after a Thurman tip-in.
Down the stretch, SEMO got within 59-54 with 6:33 to play before a Boone layup on a pass from Marshall pushed Paul Lusk's squad ahead by seven, and Thurman extended it to nine on a pair of free throws with 3:11 to play.
Southeast's press gave the Bears issues with two-and-a-half to play as the Redhawks climbed back within 63-59, but a Thurman trey - his third of the night - with 1:47 on the clock, put the game out of reach.
MSU made 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final minute to close out the win and hand SEMO its first home loss of the year.
For the night, Missouri State was 22-for-53 (.415), 12-of-19 (.632) from beyond the arc and 17-of-20 (.850) at the line with 13 turnovers.
Thurman was just two points shy of a career high, while Marshall hit the 20-point plateau for the third time in six appearances. Boone also matched a season-high with his 9 boards.
SEMO got 13 from Nino Johnson, 12 from Antonius Cleveland and 11 by Isiah Jones. The Redhawks finished 23-of-58 (.397), 6-of-24 (.250) from downtown and 9-of-13 (.692) at the line with 15 mishaps and 9 steals.
In a sloppy first half, the Bears shot under 30 percent and committed 7 turnovers to trail 32-28 at the break. MSU drew within 16-15 with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the opening half on a pair of free throws by Marcus Marshall, but gave up three dunks over the next five SEMO possessions to fall behind again.
MSU climbed within 22-21 and 24-23 from there, but was unable to take the lead. An 8-2 run by the Redhawks before the intermission gave Southeast its biggest lead of the half at 32-25 with 1:01 to play. Thurman then responded with his second trey in the final minute, and the Bears' defense got a stop on the final possession of the period to pull the visitors within four at the midway point.
The Bears will continue their three-game road swing Monday at Oral Roberts for a 7 p.m. tipoff from the Mabee Center in Tulsa before a Wednesday matchup at the University of Tulsa, also at 7 p.m.
Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Dec. 20 to battle Eastern Michigan (currently 8-1) at 2:05 p.m. Tickets for the EMU game are available now at MissouriStateBears.com or by calling the Missouri State Athletics Box Office in JQH Arena during regular box office hours at (417) 836-7678.
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