SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State trailed visiting Belmont by 16 points with just under 9 minutes to play here Wednesday before closing the gap to three with just over three minutes left. However, the visiting Bruins finished out the game on an 8-2 run to sink MoState down the stretch, 74-65.
Tyler Lundblade’s 22 points led Belmont (20-10, 12-7 MVC) as the junior buried 6 threes and went 8-of-12 from the field. Sam Orme also tallied 15 for the Bruins, while Jonathan Pierre registered 13 points, 7 rebounds and a game-high 6 assists.
The Bears (9-21, 2-17 MVC) closed out their home slate with 20 points from Dez White, 18 from Vincent Brady II and 11 by Michael Osei-Bonsu whose 10 rebounds was a game-high and gave him a fifth double-double for the season.
Brady’s three-pointer with 12:10 left to play pushed him to 1,000 points in his 91st career game. He played 63 games over the previous two seasons at IU Indianapolis where he tallied 629 points before accumulating a career-best 379 points this season with the Bears.
On Wednesday, the Bears nearly erased a 10-point halftime deficit in the first five minutes of the final period. Osei-Bonsu scored five points, and Brady tallied six on a pair of triples to start the second half on an 11-3 run and make it a 37-35 game at the 14:41 mark.
Belmont’s Lundblade then ignited a 9-0 spark for the visitors with back-to-back-to-back threes to push the Bruins ahead 46-35. Lundblade would bury two more treys over the next three-and-a-half minutes while Belmont’s lead swelled to its largest of the night — 59-43 at the 8:57 mark — on his final bomb of the night.
The next five minutes belonged to the Bears. Fighting for a winning home season and a signature win before the conference tournament, MoState embarked on a 20-7 run that included four 3-pointers by White. White’s two free throws with 3:10 showing on the clock made it a 66-63 game and had the Great Southern Bank Arena faithful on their feet.
Unfortunately for coach Cuonzo Martin‘s squad, Missouri State would commit three turnovers on its next three possessions, including a quick “held ball” call on the offensive end that swung the possession back to Belmont on the alternating arrow.
The Bruins finished the game with three straight field goals, including a pair of buckets from Carter Whitt who scored 10 points on the night. Meanwhile, MoState missed three straight attempts before Brady’s dunk with 27 seconds to go pulled the Bears within 72-65.
Missouri State finished the night 22-of-50 (.440) from the field, 8-for-22 (.364) from bonus distance and 13-of-19 (.684) at the foul line with a 32-29 rebounding advantage,16 second-chance points off 10 offensive caroms, and 10 steals.
Belmont was 27-for-57 (.474) overall, 12-of-29 (.414) from downtown and 8-for-10 (.800) at the stripe with 12 turnovers and 9 steals. The Bruins also registered 23 points off MSU’s 17 turnovers.
In the opening half, the Bears went the final five-and-a-half minutes without a field goal to stretch a one-point deficit to 10 at the intermission. MoState missed its final seven field goal attempts and surrendered 10 points on its 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Brady’s 7 points paced the Bears, while Belmont was led by Lundblade’s 7 points. The Bruins shot 13-of-27 (.481) in the first stanza, including a 4-for-4 stretch to close out the half.
The Bears conclude the regular season on Sunday at Missouri Valley regular-season champion Drake (2 p.m./ESPN+) before opening up the 2025 MVC Men’s Basketball Championship next Thursday (March 6) with a 2:30 p.m. tip against the No. 5 seed at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
