Men Lose to Midwestern State
January 10, 2009
Abdullah Lawal
SWOSU, which entered the game as one of the top shooting teams in the Lone Star Conference, misfired much of the night making just 20-of-55 attempts for 36%. The Bulldogs, who had been connecting at better than a 46% rate entering the game, struggled to find their range against Midwestern State's tough defense.
Kenneth White led SWOSU with 22 points as the Bulldogs fell to 9-6. SWOSU will open Lone Star Conference South Division play Wednesday at Northeastern State University before returning home Saturday, Jan. 17 against nationally-ranked Central Oklahoma.
Anthony Moore had 19 points for the Mustangs who won their eighth game in a row to improve to 11-3 on the year.
White sparked an 8-0 run midway through the second half that gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the early moments of the game. White's three-pointer put the Bulldogs in front 45-44 with 10:04 to play. MSU countered with an 11-0 run on a pair of three-pointers by Nolan Richardson and when Moore scored underneath the lead was back in the Mustangs favor by a 54-45 count with 8:01 to play.
SWOSU got as close as eight points later when Jose Garcia scored to cut MSU's lead to 63-55 with 4:06 to play. The Mustangs again regrouped when on a run of their own and had the margin back to 14 points with two minutes to play.
Kendall Smith had 12 points and Jerard Campbell added 10 for the Bulldogs who put three players in double figure scoring.
SWOSU helped its cause from the free throw line making 20-of-28 attempts for 71% while MSU visited the line 20 times making just 12 for 60%.
The Bulldogs battled the much bigger Mustangs well underneath collecting 36 rebounds to MSU's 40. Matej Mrkic had seven to lead SWOSU in that category.