SPRINGFIELD – The sophomore tandem of Isiaih Mosley and Ja’Monta Black both scored career highs and helped lift Missouri State to an 85-77 win over visiting Little Rock here Monday, giving the Bears a solid win over the Sun Belt Conference preseason favorites and a 3-0 start to the season.
Black posted a career high for the second time in three games with 26 points. He was 7-of-11 from the field, all from 3-point range, to tie a JQH Arena record for long-range buckets. Mosley matched Black’s 26 points, also going 7-of-11 from the field, with a game-high 8 rebounds and team-high 6 assists. The former high school teammates at Columbia Rock Bridge also combined to go 14-of-16 from the foul line.
Dana Ford’s Bears led by as many as 14 points in the second half, getting triples on back-to-back possessions by Black to lead 56-42 with 12-and-a-half minutes remaining.
Little Rock then turned to 6-foot-10 big man Ruot Monyyong for inside baskets on its next three possessions before a jumper by Markquis Nowell made it 61-53.
Later, Nowell got the Trojans (4-3) within 62-56 on his second 3-pointer of the game with just over six minutes to play.
But Missouri State (3-0) had an answer for the Little Rock run, going on a 9-1 outburst of its own over the next two minutes. Gaige Prim posted four points, and Black knocked down a triple to restore order and give MSU a 71-57 advantage with just under four to go.
The Trojans tried make things interesting again in the final minute with Nowell converting a rare four-point play with a minute to go that erased a double-figure MSU lead and made it 81-75. After a pair of missed Bear free throws moments later, the Trojans quickly pushed the ball up the floor where Kris Bankston scored on a put-back of a Maric miss to make it a four-point game.
But as they did all night, Black and Mosley came through in the clutch, burying two free throws apiece in the final 43 seconds to lift Missouri State to an eight-point victory and extend the team’s JQH Arena win streak to seven games.
Nowell led Little Rock with 18 points and 7 assists. Monyyong, a Preseason All-Sun Belt selection who hit the game-winning jumper against the Bears last year at JQH Arena, finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
The Trojans, who dressed eight players, finished the last 38 seconds of the game with just four players on the floor. Three Little Rock players fouled out in the second half and one left the game with an injury in the opening period.
Missouri State finished an even 25-of-50 (.500) from the field for its third straight 50-percent shooting effort. The Bears were also 13-of-32 (.406) from long range and 22-of-28 (.786) from the line with a 33-32 rebounding edge. MSU dished out 17 assists with 13 turnovers.
Despite fighting through foul trouble, Prim extended his double-figure scoring streak to 16 straight games, going 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 at the stripe for 10 points
The Bears also got solid support from Lu’Cye Patterson who snagged 6 rebounds and had 3 assists in a 32-minute reserve role.
In the first half, the Bears came out firing with Black knocking down four triples bore the 11-minute mark. After another trey by Jared Ridder and a dunk from Nick Tata capped a 13-0 run by MSU midway through the opening period, MSU opened up its biggest lead of the stanza, 25-12.
Little Rock made a run late in the period, cutting into Missouri State’s advantage with a 6-0 run ignited by Nikola Maric to make it a 29-24 contest with 3:54 to go. But the Bears got a jumper from Tata, a 3-point play by Keaton Hervey and a half-court heave by Ridder at the buzzer to take a 40-28 lead into the halftime intermission.
Missouri State begins Missouri Valley Conference play with a two-game series at Northern Iowa on Sunday and Monday (Dec. 27-28) in Cedar Falls. The Bears return to JQH Arena for two games against Indiana State, Jan. 2-3. Tickets for both ISU contests are available at //MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or at the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
