February 15, 2005
[Gamenotes] [Final Stats]
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In a reserve role, Michael Johnson led all Bearcats with six rebounds and three blocks, while chipping in for seven points. |
BOLIVAR, MO. ... Not exactly the kind of start Head Coach Jeff Guiot would have preferred, but how the old cliche goes, "It's not how you start, but it's how you finish." Southwest Baptist (13-11 / 7-8 MIAA) rallied from a 13 point deficit to earn the season split with Missouri-Rolla (10-14 / 4-11 MIAA), winning 52-48.
The Miners started out on a 10-0 run to in the game's first four minutes. SBU missed their first seven shots from the field until Michael Johnson broke the Bearcats out of the temporary shooting slump with the team's first field goal at the 13:38 mark.
Southwest Baptist then found themselves down 16-3 until Deon Davis converted a layup with 10:15 remaining in the half to spark a 7-0 run. Going into halftime down 12, UMR's leading scorer Jermaine Burks ended up with just as many points as the entire SBU team, 17. The Miners held the Bearcats in the first half to a new eye-opening season low 17 points, a not so flattering 19 percent from the field, and even prettier six percent from the three-point line.
But just with the earlier cliche, Southwest Baptist showed the team that previously had won three out of the last four games, jumping right out of the gates to a 21-5 run over a nine minute span to start the second half. Martez Young forced a steal and converted the breakaway slam dunk to give SBU their first lead at 35-34.
The Bearcats carried that momentum into a game high seven point lead at 46-39 with 7:17 remaining. Missouri-Rolla contiuned to fight back using a 9-2 run to tie the game at 48-48 with just over three minutes remaining, but those were he last points the Miners would see the rest of the way. In another old, but overly used cliche, "What goes around, comes around," as UMR shutout SBU from the field for the first six and a half minutes, Southwest Baptist's defense returned the favor by shutting out the Miners from the field in the last 4:53 of the game.
Deon Davis led all of SBU with 10 points, Martez Young gave the Bearcats nine points in his seventh consecutive start, and Michael Johnson led the team with six rebounds and three blocks, while chipping in for seven points in a reserve role.
Southwest Baptist now goes on the road for their last two road games of the season and most crucial road trip of the year. Up next for the Bearcats will be a return for Head Coach Jeff Guiot to his alma-mater Pittsburg State, who is currently ranked #13 in the nation on Saturday, February 19 at 7:30 pm. SBU then travels up to Warrensburg, MO for a rematch with Central Missouri State on next Wednesday, Feb. 23. The Mules are currently ranked #6 in the nation by the NABC.
NOTES: Head Coach Jeff Guiot is now 22-5 all time in the month of February in his career as a head coach at the NCAA Division II level. This win over Missouri-Rolla at home was the first time since Feb. 4, 2002 that SBU defeated the Miners in Bolivar. Southwest Baptist needs just one more win to secure not only a berth in the MIAA Tournament for the first time in three years, but it will be the first time since the 1994-1995 season that the program has finished a year with a .500 record or better.
