SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State made 13 consecutive field goals during a key stretch in the second half, but came up short in crunch time here Wednesday in a heart-breaking 73-72 New-Year’s Day loss to visiting Valparaiso.
Vincent Brady II paced MoState (7-7, 0-3 MVC) with 19 points on 8-of-9 field goals and 3 steals, while Michael Osei-Bonsu added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. The Bears also got 13 points from Dez White who knocked down three triples, including the 100th of his career.
Valparaiso (8-6, 1-2 MVC) had four players score in double figures, including a game-high 22 points from Cooper Schwieger, while Tyler Schmidt and All Wright scored 14 apiece.
After falling behind 46-38 on the heels of a 7-0 Beacons run with 15:54 to go, the Bears began chipping away, turning to Brady and Osei-Bonsu to start a run of 13 consecutive made shots over the span of the next 11 minutes, 32 seconds.
Makhai Valentine also joined in the fun, pumping in eight straight MSU points including a couple of 3-pointers, the latter of which made it a 61-55 game with just under 10 minutes to go.
Valpo maintained the lead with accurate shooting of its own, making 8-of-12 during MSU’s comeback run while capitalizing on 10-of-13 free throw chances during the second half.
With 2:12 to go, Brady’s only three of the night got the Bears within 73-71 and ended a remarkable 14-for-15 shooting run by the Bears that consumed more than 13-and-a-half minutes.
Missouri State’s defense then closed things out with four straight stops over the game’s last three minutes, forcing a miss by Schmidt before Brady’s clutch triple, followed by three more stops — all on missed jumpers by Schweiger — that gave the Bears a chance.
MoState was unable to capitalize on a pair of contested layups after Schweiger’s first two misses, but after a clutch defensive rebound by Zaxton King, the Bears called a timeout with 11.8 seconds left to set up a potential game-tying or game-winning play, still trailing by two. After a rare missed three from White, the ball found its way to King who was fouled on a three-pointer with less than a second to play.
After King split his first two free throws, Valpo called a timeout to freeze the MSU freshman, whose third shot caromed off the rim, and MSU could not get another shot off before the final horn in a valiant effort at Great Southern Bank Arena.
Missouri State shot 64 percent in the second half on 16-of-25 field goal attempts and finished the game 29-of-50 (.580) overall from the field. The Bears were also 8-of-18 (.444) from long range and left 10 points at the foul line after converting just 6-of-16 (.375) from the stripe.
The Bears, who also got 20 quality minutes from Logan Epes off the bench, out-rebounded Valparaiso by a 27-25 margin and dished out 15 assists.
Valpo was 28-of-53 (.528) overall from the field, 6-for-18 (.333) from bonus distance and 11-for-15 (.733) at the line with 10 second-chance points on 9 offensive boards.
In the opening half, the Bears got 10 points from Osei-Bonsu and dished out 8 assists on 13 field goals, but a buzzer-beating three from Valpo’s Schmidt put the Beacons ahead 35-34 at the break. Missouri State led by six points on two occasions, pushing ahead 30-24 on a free throw by Brady with 3:51 to go in the period before Valparaiso ended the stanza on an 11-4 surge.
The Bears return to the road this weekend for a nationally-televised game at Bradley on Saturday (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network) before returning to Great Southern Bank Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 7 to host UIC at 7 p.m.
