SPRINGFIELD – Led by a career-high 31 points from Isiaih Mosley, Missouri State never trailed en route to a 78-60 win over visiting Alabama State here Saturday.The Bears (1-1) also got 16 points from Ja’Monta Black, including four 3-pointers, while Gaige Prim tallied his 20th career double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.Demarcus Sharp also pitched in 8 assists to the winning cause, matching a career high.After leading by 13 at the half, the Bears rallied behind a triple by Black and layup from Mosley to push ahead 49-32 before the first media timeout of the final stanza.The Hornets (0-3) would go on a 14-6 run over the next five minutes to cut their deficit to nine but would get no closer. Mosley and Sharp stopped the bleeding before Black buried his fourth try of the evening to regain a comfortable advantage for the home side, 62-46.Down the stretch, a 3-pointer by Mosley with 1:45 to play pushed him over 30 points for the first time in his career and marked the 96th time in program history a Bear achieved that scoring milestone.Black’s free throws on Missouri State’s next possession gave the Bears their biggest lead of the night, 76-55.Alabama State was led by Gerald Liddell who racked up 14 points off the bench for the visitors, while Kenny Strawbridge posted 12 points for ASU, which shot just 38.7 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers.For the game, Missouri State shot 27-of-63 (.429) overall, 8-of-30 (.267) from long range and an impressive 16-for-19 (.842) at the line with a 44-33 rebounding advantage.Bears head coach Dana Ford also picked up his 50th Missouri State victory on the evening, making the fourth-year sideline boss the 11th MSU head coach to reach that milestone.In the opening half, the Bears shot 52 percent and got 18 points from Mosley to lead 42-29 at the intermission. Mosley hit three triples, and Missouri State out-rebounded the Hornets, 19-14 in the opening 20 minutes.Missouri State will hit the road Wednesday to take on Sam Houston at 7:30 p.m. in advance of the Thanksgiving Week tournament in Naples, Fla., Nov. 22-24. The Bears then open league play at Illinois State on Dec. 1 before finally returning to JQH Arena on Saturday, Dec. 4 when they take on BYU in a nationally-televised game at 3 p.m.Tickets for the BYU game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
