Jared Young scored 25 in his final game as a Bearcat.

Kansas City – The SBU Bearcats were knocked out in the first round of the MIAA tournament by the Pittsburg State Gorillas, 73-70.

SBU’s leading scorer on the season, Jason Jemison, didn’t score. Jemison was 0-5 from the three-point arc, and 0 of 6 overall.

SBU built an early rebound lead in the first half, leading by as many as 10, but the Gorillas started dominating the boards, and ended the game with a 42-32 rebounding margin over the Bearcats.

SBU led for nearly all of the first half. But as the rebounding lead disappeared, so did the lead on the scoreboard. Pitt State tied it with 9:30 left in the game, went ahead, and SBU was unable to recapture momentum.

Jared Young scored 25 for the ‘Cats. He was 5-11 from the field and knocked down 4 treys. Andy Wills, who did his best to be a spark in the 2nd half, ended the game with 14. Matt Rogers added 12.

Pitt State’s Cory Abercrombie dominated the game, scoring 36 and rebounding 11.

Coach Jeff Guiot talked about his team shooting twelve less times than Pittsburg State.

Andy Wills had 14 points for the 'Cats.

“They shot the ball 12 more times than we did. They grabbed 17 offensive boards to our 8. We shot less because we rebounded less. The teams that win the rebounding war win 80% of the time. We got good shots. But when they made their run, we missed a string of free throws. We’re getting the ball to our big guys during that stretch, but we just couldn’t knock down the free throws.”

 “Jason was our leading scorer coming into the game. If you had told me before the game that he wouldn’t score, I would have had a tough time believing it. But even without his points, we still had a chance to win the game.”

“In this league, there isn’t much that separates the 1st seed from the 8th seed. You win by doing the little things. And tonight – we just didn’t do the little things.”

Final Stats