SPRINGFIELD – All 12 Missouri State players in uniform found the scoring column, and the Bears rolled to a 100-51 exhibition win over visiting Westminster (Mo.) College here Thursday.
Tyler Bey led all players with 19 points, while Cesare Edwards scored 17, Damien Mayo Jr. added 12, and Kanon Gipson scored 10 to lead the Missouri State attack. The Bears collected 72 points from their non-starters, including all four players who finished in double figures. Likewise, no MSU starter played more than nine-and-a-half minutes.
Coach Dana Ford’s squad shot 60.3 percent for the game and forced 21 turnovers off 15 steals, including four takeaways from Bey.
Gipson was MSU’s top assist man with seven, contributing to the squad’s 60-percent assist ratio with 21 dimes on 35 field goals.
Dawson Carper snagged a game-high nine rebounds for Missouri State with Bey adding eight, and Raphe Ayres contributing seven more as part of a 42-22 rebounding advantage for the home club.
Westminster got 13 points from Aaron Poage off the bench, including three treys, to lead the visiting Blue Jays. Kaden Eirhart added 10 points for the visitors.
The Bears used a 22-0 run midway through the opening half to stretch a 22-8 lead into a 34-point advantage with seven minutes left in the stanza. The Blue Jays stopped the streak with a pair of free throws from Poage, but the Bears then reeled off nine more unanswered tallies to cap a 31-2 stretch. MoState then parlayed that momentum into a 59-17 halftime lead.
In the opening half, the Bears shot just under 70 percent from the field on 22-of-32 field goals to take a commanding lead at the game’s midway point. The home club collected six first-half dunks and was a perfect 12-for-12 at the line with Mayo’s 12 points leading all scorers.
For the game, MSU was 23-of-26 (.885) at the foul line with seven total 3-pointers from six different players.
The Bears will now begin preparation for Monday’s regular-season opener at West Virginia. The game in Morgantown, W.Va. will tip at 6 p.m. (Central) from the WVU Coliseum on ESPN+.
The Missouri State home opener will be on Monday, Nov. 13 against Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Tickets for the ORU game – and all home contests – are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Missouri State Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular office hours.
