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SPRINGFIELD – With seniors
Kabir Mohammed and
Keandre Cook nearly posting double-doubles, Missouri State led wire-to-wire here Tuesday in a 73-53 victory over Cleveland State to conclude a three-game home stand.
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Cook led all scorers with 19 points to go with 9 rebounds, while Mohammed added 9 points and a career-high 11 boards for Missouri State (2-1).
Tulio Da Silva added 13 points, with
Lamont West contributing 10 for the home side.
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Cleveland State (1-2), which collected 31 bench points on the night, got 10 points apiece from reserves Tyrese Potoma and Daylen Williams.
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Coach
Dana Ford's squad scored the first eight points of the game and led 13-2 just over six minutes into the contest. Cook's traditional three-point play at the five-minute mark gave MSU a 30-12 advantage for its biggest lead of the opening half.
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Missouri State pushed ahead 39-23 at the intermission before
Josh Hall gave the Bears a 20-point lead for the first time on a free throw with 16:20 left in the second period. Midway through the final half, a 7-2 outburst by the home side included a 15-foot jumper by West, a triple from Cook and a layup from Da Silva to give the Bears their biggest lead of the contest, 62-38.
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With six minutes remaining, and foul counts racking up on both sides, the Vikings used a 6-0 run over a two-minute stretch to get back within 65-49. However, Mohammed and Cook responded with big free throws to restore order before freshmen
Isiaih Mosley and
Ja'Monta Black finished things out in the final two minutes to give Missouri State a needed 20-point home victory.
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The game also saw the debut of fellow freshman Ford Cooper Jr., who played 17 minutes and knocked down his first career 3-pointer for the Bears.
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Missouri State finished 20-of-53 (.377) overall, 5-of-17 (.294) from long range and 28-of-36 (.778) at the stripe with a 49-35 rebounding advantage. The Bears also collected 11 steals and forced 16 turnovers.
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The teams combined for 45 fouls, which led to 59 total free throws in the game. Da Silva was 9-for-13 at the stripe to lead all players with Cook and Mohammed making five charity shots apiece. CSU's Hugo Ferreira was 7-for-10 at the line to lead the visitors.
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MSU's victory evened the all-time series between the former Mid-Continent Conference foes, 9-9. The squads had not met since the Bears departed the league to join the Missouri Valley Conference in 1990.
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The Bears will play their next five games away from home before returning to JQH Arena on Dec. 3 against Murray State. MSU will begin the four-game road swing Friday (6 p.m.) at No. 21 Xavier (3-0) in a game that will air regionally on FOX Sports Midwest Plus.
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Tickets for the Murray State game, and all home contests, are available at
MissouriStateBears.com, or by visiting the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during ticket office hours.
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