Dec. 19, 2007

Box Score

Springfield, Mo. - A span of 10 minutes and second-chance points doomed Bethune-Cookman University in the second half of a men's basketball contest on Wednesday night in a 63-49 loss to Missouri State at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Mo. The game was the second for the Wildcats as a part of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.

When Joey Woods hit a jumper for B-CU (4-6) from the right elbow to tie the game at 34-34, B-CU head coach Clifford Reed, Jr. never imagined the next eight minutes would be the worst stretch of the season for the Wildcats.

With 12:57 showing on the clock, Missouri State (7-3) used five straight points from Chris Cooks to kick-start a sporadic 25-5 run that left the visiting Wildcats looking up at the wrong end of the scoreboard for the second time in as many games.

B-CU fell behind 59-39 with 4:58 showing on the clock as John Holmes jumper stopped a 12-0 run for the Bears.

The `Cats, in fact, stood toe-to-toe with the Bears for most of the game as they took their first lead courtesy a John Holmes free throw with 14:52 remaining in the game. B-CU led 30-29 at that point.

Things did not look that way in the first half as MSU started off the game with a 10-0 lead while B-CU did not score for the first six minutes of the first half. With the `Cats trailing 10-3, B-CU then used strong plays from Holmes and Dominique Whatley to tie the game at 16-16 with 9:49 left in the first half.

The homestanding Bears then pushed the lead back out to an 11-point advantage (27-16) when Shane and Spencer Laurie hit back-to-back three-pointers for MSU.

B-CU did manage to cut the lead to five after a Tobias Mahone jumper, but Deven Mitchell hit a shot before the half to give MSU the 29-22 lead.

B-CU had problems in the second half in ways that have been hurting them all season long--REBOUNDS. The Wildcats had a stretch of five consecutive baskets by MSU's Chris Cooks as he scored on tip-ins and put-backs for the Bears.

MSU controlled the battle of the boards, 41-23. And they led in second-chance points by a final count of 16-6. Cooks had 10 of those points.

The Bears were led by the play of four (4) players in double-digits, including leading scorers Mitchell and Cooks with 12 each. Dale Lamberth had 11, while Spencer Laurie collected 10 of his own. Mitchell added nine rebounds as well.

As for Bethune-Cookman, they were led by John Holmes with 13 points. Woods led the rebounding column for B-CU with nine.

The Wildcats will play their next game in Las Vegas, Nev. on Saturday, Dec. 22 at the Orleans Arena against the University of Texas-Pan American. For more information, please locate your internet browser to www.orleansarena.com.