JOPLIN -- Trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the No. 16 Missouri Southern men's basketball team forced overtime and out scored Washburn 13-7 in the extra period to win 85-79 in front of more than 2,600 fans at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Southern (21-5, 13-5 MIAA) take sole possession of second place in the MIAA, sitting a half a game in front of Washburn. The Lions were led in scoring by Keane Thomann as the big man scored 22 on 6-10 shooting and 10-10 from the free-throw line. He added six rebounds and two blocks. Four others scored in double-figures for the Lions as Jason Adams and Jordan Talbert scored 14 each, with Marquis Addison adding 13 and Patrick Hester scoring 10.
Washburn (18-7, 12-5 MIAA) had four score in double-figures led by Jeff Reid with 20 points on 8-10 shooting and 4-6 from long range.
Southern scored the first seven points in the game and led 9-2 after a jumper from Talbert with 15:56 left in the first half. A jumper from Reid tied the game, however, at 17 with eight minutes to go in the half. A jumper from Bobby Chipman with 1:56 left gave Washburn a ten point lead (34-24) and a free-throw from Adams with four seconds left made the halftime score 34-25, Ichabods.
Washburn went up by 15 (42-27) with 17:47 left in the second half and led by 11 (61-50) after a pair of free-throws from Zack Riggins with 6:14 left. From that point, the Lions went on a 20-9 run over a five-minute stretch to tie the game at 70 when Thomann made a pair of free-throws with 1:11 left. Washburn made a pair of free-throws the next trip down, but Addison scored on a layup with 23 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
The overtime period was all Lions as Southern went up three after a jumper from Adams with 2:22 left and the Lions soon led by six after a pair of freebies from Christian Salecich with 50 seconds left.
The Lions were out rebounded 38-28 tonight, including 16-6 on the offensive boards, but the Lions forced 14 Washburn turnovers and scored 27 points off of the miscues. Southern shot 50 percent in the game and 75 percent in the second half.
Southern will be back in action this Saturday when the Lions play host to Fort Hays at 3 pm from the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center. The game will be senior day for the four Lions' seniors (Thomann, Adams, TJ Williams, and Hester).
