HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Missouri State's thrilling men's basketball run in its first-ever Conference USA Tournament came to an end here Friday afternoon with a narrow 69-66 semifinal loss to No. 4 seed Louisiana Tech.
 
The Bulldogs (20-13) got a game-high 27 points and 6 assists from AJ Bates and outrebounded the Bears 19-12 in the second half to pull off the decision.
 
The Bears (16-18) were led by Michael Osei-Bonsu who scored 19 points with team-highs 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Keith Palek III added 15 points for Missouri State, freshman Melakih Cunningham netted a season-high 13 points, and classmate Trey Williams Jr. scored 11. Osei-Bonsu was 6-of-10 from the field and 7-of-10 at the free throw line in his final Mo State appearance, finishing with 826 career points in two seasons to rank 46^th in program history.
 
Palek's lone season with the Bears culminated in 587 points, the No. 9 single-season scoring total ever by a Missouri State player.
 
The Bears erased their three-point halftime deficit two minutes into the second half, getting a pair of jumpers from Palek, one from Kobi Williams, and a 3-pointer from Cunningham to lead 36-34.
 
LA Tech answered with a 7-0 mini-run to retake control while the Bears played catch-up for the next 15 minutes. Palek's fast-break layup with just under nine minutes to go drew the No. 9 seed within 50-49, but the Bulldogs responded with another 7-0 outburst to take their largest lead of the game, 57-49 at the seven-minute mark.
 
Cunningham's traditional three-point play with 5:12 to go made it a 61-56 game, but LA Tech got second-chance scores on its next two possessions, including a dunk-back by Avery Thomas II that stretched the MSU deficit to 63-56 heading into the game's last three-and-a-half minutes.
 
But never ones to lie down in the face of adversity, the Bears made a game of it down the stretch. Trey Williams came out of the timeout with a clutch triple to close the gap to four at the 3:32 mark, and later buried his third three of the game to make it 65-64 with 41 ticks to play.
 
The Bears needed one more defensive stop on LA Tech's last true possession of the afternoon to complete the comeback, but a Will Allen tip in after a rare miss from Bates made it a 67-64 game with 18 seconds remaining.
 
Looking for a game-tying three, the Bears worked the ball to Palek on the right side whose long attempt missed, but Osei-Bonsu gathered in the carom before he was hacked and sent to the line with 3.7 seconds showing.
 
Osei-Bonsu made both free throws to draw Mo State within 67-66, but the Bears had to foul immediately to get the ball back which sent Kaden Cooper to the line for his first two free throws of the game. The junior reserve delivered for the Bulldogs, making both shots, and making it 69-66.
 
Missouri State's full-court pass in effort to set up a potential game-tying three was intercepted, and the final horn sounded to end MSU's magical run.
 
The Bears shot a respectable 45.2 percent in the second half and finished 24-of-55 (.436) for the game from the field. Coach Cuonzo Martin's squad was also 7-of-26 (.269) from three, 11-of-15 (.733) at the line and committed just 6 turnovers.

Trey Williams Jr. finished his freshman campaign with 321 points, tying the third-most ever by a Bears freshman standout, and 63 3-pointers which is No. 2 all-time among MSU freshmen.
 
Both MSU and LTU posted 32 points in the paint and 11 second-chance points off 12 offensive boards.
 
LA Tech, which also had a double-figure scoring effort from DJ Dudley with 10 points, was 26-for-54 (.481) overall, 4-of-15 (.267) from three and 13-for-18 (.722) at the stripe with a 34-29 rebounding advantage and 21 bench points.
 
Bates finished 10-for-21 from the field and 6-for-6 at the foul line.
 
In the opening stanza, the Bears got 11 points from Osei-Bonsu and 6 from Zaxton King on a pair of threes, but trailed 30-27. LA Tech's Bates attempted more than half of the Bulldogs' shots, going 7-of-14 to account for 16 points in the period.
 
The Bears out-rebounded the Bulldogs by a 17-15 margin in the first 20 minutes, but only managed two points on their 6 offensive caroms.