SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State hit a season-high 13 three-pointers and had its first 50-percent shooting game since December, rolling to an 84-69 win over visiting Murray State here Tuesday in the home finale for the Bears.Donovan Clay led Missouri State (15-14, 11-8 MVC) with 19 points, while Alston Mason racked up 18, and Kendle Moore contributed 14 in his final game at Great Southern Bank Arena. The Bears also got 13 points and 9 rebounds from Jonathan Mogbo who narrowly missed his sixth double-double of the campaign.The Bears, who tallied their 10th home win of the year, never trailed and matched a season-high with 20 assists — 7 from Clay and 6 from Mason.Murray State (15-14, 10-9) was led by Rob Perry’s 20 points, while JaCobi Wood added 16 for the visitors who turned the ball over 11 times.MoState was on fire from the jump, getting 3-pointers from Mason and Clay in the opening minute before Clay’s tip-in made it 8-0 and forced a Murray State timeout. Three minutes later, Mason’s second of four 3-pointers on the night gave the Bears a 10-point lead, 18-8, just over five minutes into the contest.The Racers, who also hit a season-high with 12 threes, used the long ball to get back within four before a 15-2 Missouri State run before the under-four media timeout pushed the home club up by a 40-25 score.The Bears would shoot 54.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes with half a dozen threes to lead 46-34 at the midway point.Murray State opened up the second half with a 7-0 run to get within five points of the lead twice, but Missouri State turned to Clay to stop the bleeding. The Alton, Illinois product buried back-to-back triples for the Bears, the second of which ignited a decisive 16-0 run over a five-minute stretch.By the time Dalen Ridgnal’s layup ended the run at the 10:50 mark, MoState had built its biggest lead of the game, 65-44.The Racers whittled away at the Missouri State lead midway through the final stanza, using an 11-3 outburst to get within 13. But the home side weathered the storm and turned to Mogbo for back-to-back scores before Mason’s final triple of the game got the Bears back on track, making it 77-61.James Graham’s 3-pointer with three-and-a-half minutes remaining pushed Missouri State’s lead back to 19. It was Graham’s 20th trey of the season, giving the Bears six different players with 20 or more treys for just the fourth time in program history.The Bears finished 33-of-64 (.516) from the field, their best shooting effort since their win at UNI on Dec. 28. They also eclipsed a season-best in 3-point shooting, converting 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from distance. MSU also had 5-of-7 (.714) free throws, a 36-25 rebounding advantage and just 8 turnovers.Behind three rejections from Clay, the Bears also racked up 6 blocks and 6 steals.Murray State was 22-of-53 (.415) overall, 12-for-23 (.522) from long range and 13-of-16 (.813) at the stripe.The Bears conclude the regular season Sunday at Indiana State for a 1 p.m. start (ESPN+) in Terre Haute.
