SPRINGFIELD – All ten players who saw action for Missouri State landed in the scoring column here Sunday as the Bears dispatched visiting Central Michigan, 79-58, in non-conference play.
Dalen Ridgnal scored 16 points and snagged a game-high 8 rebounds in his first MSU start, while Jonathan Mogbo and James Graham added 12 points apiece for the winning side, which shot an even 50-percent from the field and trashed a four-game losing skid.
It was the first career starts for Graham as well as third-year squadman Raphe Ayres, who finished with 7 points, while the rest of the new-look starting lineup included Damien Mayo Jr., Mogbo and Ridgnal. Mayo tallied 8 points and dished out 4 assists to help the winning cause.
“It always feels good to win,” said Bears head coach Dana Ford. “As far as the streak, it’s hard when you feel like you could’ve won those games, but our guys are getting better. With the second half of the ORU game and today’s game, there are a lot of things we can build off.”
Missouri State (5-7) built off a 10-point halftime lead with a 10-2 surge in the first four minutes of the second half to extend its lead to 18. Near the midway point in the half, the Bears used a 13-0 run over a three-minute stint to stretch their lead from 16 to 29. Kendle Moore started the rally before three straight 3-pointers by Graham and Alston Mason ahead of a pair of free throws from Donovan Clay made it a 66-37 game.
Graham’s final 3-pointer of the night made it a 76-44 game with 4:26 to go – Missouri State’s largest lead of the night – to put the contest out of reach.
The Bears held Central Michigan (4-7) to 36.4 percent from the field on 20-of-55 attempts, 7-of-22 (.318) from 3-point range and 11-of-15 (.733) at the line. CMU scored six of its 10 second-half field goals in the last five minutes of the game.
Reggie Bass scored a game-high 18 points for the Chippewas, while Brian Taylor scored 12 for the visitors.
MSU posted its second-straight 50-percent shooting game, racking 26-of-52 field goals, while dropping in 10-of-26 (.385) 3-pointers and 17-of-26 (.664) at the stripe. The Bears also out-rebounded CMU by a 41-26 margin, their second-largest margin of the season, to go with 15 second-chance points.
Led by 3 rejections from Mogbo, the Bears also blocked 8 shots, while dishing out 18 assists, including 4 apiece from Mayo and Clay.
In the first half, a Ridgnal-led 10-0 run midway through the opening stanza catapulted the Bears to a 26-20 lead and swelled to a 12-point advantage just before the half. Ridgnal finished the half with 16 points and 6 rebounds to lead MSU’s efforts, while marking the most points by a MoState player in a half this season.
The Bears will wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Thursday evening at Great Southern Bank Arena when they host Sam Houston (10-2) in what should be a great test for the resurgent Bears before conference play begins Dec. 28.
