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SPRINGFIELD – Led by 33 points from Isiaih Mosley, Missouri State (21-9, 12-5 MVC) shot 53.2 percent from the field and turned back visiting Bradley, 83-67, here Wednesday in a battle of two Missouri Valley heavyweights.
Mosley also snagged a game-high 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, in addition to his sixth 30-point scoring effort and 17th game with 20 or more points. Donovan Clay also pitched in 17 points and 7 rebounds for the home side while going 7-for-7 from the field.
Bears’ seniors Gaige Prim and Jaylen Minnett were honored in pregame ceremonies with Prim responding with a 14-point night, and Minnett splashing home two 3-pointers and 8 points in his final appearance at JQH Arena.
Bradley (16-13, 10-7 MVC) did not make things easy, staying within striking most of the second half and trimming MSU’s lead to 67-62 with just over eight minutes to go behind a timely 7-0 run. However, after the under-eight media timeout, MoState responded with a 10-0 run of its own, getting four points from Mosley, three from Prim and three from Clay to stretch the lead to 77-62.
Clay later gave the Bears their biggest lead of the night with a towering alley-oop dunk from Mosley to make it 81-64. It was Mosley’s third assist of the night, matching a game-high.
The Bears made 33-of-62 shots on the night, including a 59-percent shooting effort in the second half. Mosley also led the home squad with five 3-pointers on the icy evening, with Clay and Minnett adding two apiece to give the Bears a 9-of-25 (.360) finish from distance.
Missouri State also racked up 28 points in the paint and 18 points off 15 Bradley turnovers.
The Braves were led by Malevy Leons and Connor Hickman with 15 points apiece. The tandem combined for five of Bradley’s eight 3-pointers on the night.
BU finished 26-of-61 (.426) from the field, 8-of-27 (.296) from long range and 7-of-12 (.463) at the line with a narrow 37-36 rebounding advantage that culminated in 16 second-chance points from 11 offensive caroms.
In the first half, Mosley hit four 3-pointers in the span of less than four minutes and helped the Bears overcome a half dozen Bradley leads to that point. His last triple at the 4:51 mark capped a 21-8 MSU outburst to help the home side’s lead balloon to 34-22.
Clay also pitched in a pair of timely 3-pointers to help the Bears keep things under control in the early stages, while Prim ended the half with five points in the final three minutes to keep the double-digit advantage in place at the midway point.
The other three Valley frontrunners earned wins on Wednesday with Loyola, Northern Iowa and Drake also securing victories and mathematically eliminating MSU’s regular-season title hopes. However, at 12-5 in The Valley with a game to go, the Bears can still earn a share of second place in the league standings simply with a road victory in the season finale this weekend.
The Bears conclude the regular season on the road Saturday at Evansville for a 4 p.m. showdown against the Purple Aces at Ford Center (ESPN3).
The 2022 State Farm MVC Tournament runs March 3-6 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
