ESTERO, Fla. – Alize Johnson scored 17 points and snagged a game-high 14 rebounds, but a second-half streak by unbeaten Georgia Southern helped hand the Bears a 74-73 loss here Monday in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena.
The Bears (2-2), took their first lead of the game with 16:39 remaining on a 3-pointer by Ryan Kreklow to bring MSU all the way back from an early 12-point hole.
The lead see-sawed back and forth over the next four minutes before the Eagles went on a decisive 13-2 run to push ahead 67-57 on a tip-in by Sean O’Connell with just over eight minutes to play. GSU then scored four of the game’s next five points to take its biggest lead of the afternoon, 71-58 at the 6:44 mark.
During that pivotal 10-minute stretch, the Bears committed six turnovers and put themselves in a difficult predicament. But in a game full of key scoring runs, the Bears saved their best for last, hitting on all cylinders over the game’s final six minutes.
With the Bears’ defense stepping up its efforts, Reggie Scurry started MSU’s late scoring run with a traditional 3-point play, followed by a flashy layup by J.T. Miller. Miller later scored high off the glass with less than two minutes to go, and then MSU had a pivotal sequence off a GSU miss with just over a minute to play. Obediah Church blocked a shot by Tookie Brown which Johnson corralled and fed to a streaking Miller to get MSU within 73-68.
Miller than made it a 73-70 game with a huge dunk at the 34-second mark.
Brown, who had a game-high 20 points, then missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18.4 seconds to go to give MSU a chance to tie. After a long possession, Johnson lined up a potential game-tying three from the top of the key, but it missed just long.
GSU’s Ike Smith gathered the rebound and was fouled with 5.6 seconds to play. He was sent to the line and made the first free throw, but missed the second. MSU rushed down the floor, and Jarrid Rhodes knocked down a clutch triple from the right wing to get MSU closer, but time expired before the Bears could foul again.
Miller scored a season-high 17 points for MSU, while Rhodes added 11 playing in his home state.
The Bears finished with 17 turnovers, shot 48.3 percent from the field on 28-of-58 shots and dropped in a season-best 76.5 percent (13-of-17) from the foul line. Aside from Ronnie Rousseau III, who was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, the Bears were cold from long range, making just 4-of-18 (.222) threes as a team.
Missouri State out-rebounded Georgia Southern by a 42-35 margin.
In the first half, the Eagles jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the first five minutes, ringing home three 3-pointers and a traditional “and one” play to take the upper hand early.
Missouri State chipped away with Miller scoring twice, and Johnson throwing down a rim-rattling dunk to get the deficit to 19-12 at the 13:39 mark.
Four different MSU players scored on an 8-5 run midway through the opening half that got the Bears within 30-24. With less than four minutes before the break, Jarred Dixon sparked another Bears outburst with a driving layup to make it 36-34. Johnson followed with another layup before Scurry scored from close range at the two-minute mark to make it 39-38.
However, in between MSU scores, Brown dropped in a pair of 3-pointers for Georgia Southern to push the Eagles up by four and eventually 44-38 at the intermission.
The Bears will now take on Manhattan (2-1) in the consolation-round matchup Tuesday at 10 a.m. (Central).
