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Missouri State Bears vs Wichita State Shockers Basketball RecapMissouri State 69, Wichita State 64
One of the great truths of sports is that you don’t know how to close down a championship until you first learn how to go through the process. No one can teach you. No one else can do it for you. The road must be traveled alone. Missouri State’s men’s basketball team had never won a title in its current conference, so when that glittering, gleaming goal lay in sight on an electric Saturday afternoon, the Bears faltered and stumbled. However, when all was done, Missouri State found its footing just in the nick of time. Because of crunch-time courage in the face of pure panic, the Bears were able to win their first regular season championship as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. After owning a lead for the majority of the game, one that extended to 15 points a couple of times in the second half, Missouri State saw the visiting Wichita State Shockers roar back and make a game of it in the final minutes. As the Shockers drew closer, the fans at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri, could feel it slipping away. A Joe Raglund three-pointer from the corner enabled Wichita State to tighten the screws with game pressure. An errant inbound pass sailed out of bounds and gave the ball back to Wichita State.
A David Kyles catch-and-shoot three-pointer on the inbound pass, as he was falling down, enabled Wichita to hush a raucous Missouri State crowd. Just like that, a 10-point MSU lead was down to one in less than two minutes. Needing to stop the Shockers’ momentum, the Bears turned to their stars of the game, the men who needed to do what no coach or playbook could tell them how to do: win a conference crown. Sure enough, the men of Missouri State were able to answer the call. MSU’s Jermaine Mallett was able to break the full court press after the Kyles three-pointer, getting a floater to fall while drawing a foul. The three-point play put the Bears back up by four at 63-59. After an exchange of free throws (two for the Shockers, one for the Bears) left the Bears up 64-61, Kyles drilled another tough three-pointer - this one with two defenders in his face - to forge the game’s first tie. The Bears, struggling with the pressure and on the verge of what would have been a stunning defeat, turned to Adam Leonard, a young man who had to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders when he released a trey in the final minute of regulation. That weight melted away, however, when Leonard’s shot splashed through the net. The MSU sharpshooter connected on his fifth three-pointer of the game, putting the Bears up 67-64 with 50 seconds left in the game. That proved to be the dagger, as the Shockers could not get any baskets to fall after that point in time.
While coach Cuonzo Martin might have preferred something less dramatic to seal the conference up on the last day of the season, he won't argue with the end result. Mallett's 18 points and Leonard's 17, including the five three-pointers, carried the Bears to the hard-fought win. They also received 13 points from Will Creekmore and 11 from Kyle Weems in the winning effort. For the Shockers, Kyles knocked down five three-pointers of his own, on his way to a game-high 20 points. However, the Shockers were unable to provide him enough support, as Raglund was the next highest scorer with 9 points. It’s true: While the shooting stats proved to be very close - the Bears made one more basket, but the Shockers nailed one more three-pointer - Wichita fell just short of pulling out what would have been a huge comeback triumph. The Shockers did hit 92 percent of their free throws to 53 percent for the Bears, but the Shockers only attempted 13 free throws while the Bears got to the line 30 times. The Bears swept the season set with the Shockers, though if things go as expected during the MVC tourney, the teams could meet up again for what would be a guaranteed berth to the March Madness extravaganza. For now though, both teams will look ahead to Arch Madness… if they play again in St. Louis and deliver a spectacle that was anything close to this sensational Saturday showdown, Valley fans are in for a real treat… a treat that will showcase the first-time champions of the league, the Missouri State Bears. Now, only now, do the Bears know what it’s like to actually win a championship on the court.
By: Matt Zemek |