SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State trailed by 20 points with 12 minutes remaining before mounting a furious comeback down the stretch and draw within two points of the lead in the final minute before succumbing to CUSA leader Liberty, 79-76, here Saturday.
The Bears (13-10, 7-5 CUSA) got a game-high 25 points from Keith Palek, including three triples, to go with 9 rebounds. MSU also got 16 points and 9 boards from Michael Osei-Bonsu and 11 points from Kobi Williams.
Brett Decker paced four Liberty players in double figures with 20 points, while Zach Cleveland produced a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, in leading the Flames (20-3, 12-0 CUSA) to the 20-win mark.
Cleveland’s dunk at the 12-minute mark of the second half gave the Flames a 66-46 lead at the time, their largest of the afternoon, but Missouri State would surrender just one field goal the rest of the game. The Bears’ offense then began chipping away with Melakih Cunningham coming off the bench to tally six of MSU’s next eight points and inch the visitors within 14 over the next five minutes.
A three by LU’s Ryan Jones Jr. extended the Flames’ advantage to 17 with 6:15 to play but Missouri State then embarked on a quick 9-0 outburst with Osei-Bonsu logging 5 points and Palek 4 in a three-minute stretch that made it 71-63 at the 2:55 mark.
Coming out of the final media timeout of the game, Colin Porter made two free throws for the home side before Palek responded with a long three for the Bears to make it a seven-point game. Before the minute mark, Palek knocked down another triple, and Osei-Bonsu made a pair of charity shots to close the gap to 75-71.
In the final 20 seconds, Palek made two more free throws to make it a two-point game before MSU was whistled for a foul to stop the clock with 10.8 ticks showing. Liberty’s Porter made one-of-two to keep it a one-possession contest, but the Bears turned the ball over near mid-court moments later and had to foul again at the seven-second mark.
This time, Porter made both free throws to make it 78-73, before the Bears pushed it up the floor to Tyrique Brooks who answered the call with a clutch trey to once again make it a two-point game at the 1.4-second mark.
Porter was sent back to the line, where he made one of two, and the visitors called a timeout to set up a potential game-tying play. The ball wound up in the hands of Kobi Williams beyond the top of the key, and his turn-around desperation shot sailed off target to dash Missouri State’s comeback hopes.
The Bears outscored Liberty 30-13 in the game’s final dozen minutes.
Missouri State finished 27-for-56 (.482) from the field, converted 8-for-17 (.471) from beyond the arc and made 14-for-26 (.538) at the stripe with a 34-28 rebounding advantage and 17 second-chance points off 12 offensive caroms.
Trey Williams Jr. dished out a team-high 5 assists for Missouri State with no turnovers.
Liberty was 27-for-49 (.551) overall from the field, 7-of-20 (.350) from long range and 18-of-28 (.653) at the foul line with 22 assists, 38 points in the paint and 14 points off MSU’s 10 turnovers.
Early in the second half, it took MoState just over a minute into the period to erase a four-point halftime deficit with Kobi Williams and Osei-Bonsu scoring early to make it a 42-42 game at the 18:58 mark. But the Flames caught fire from beyond the arc over the next three minutes, ringing up four triples in that span as part of a 16-0 surge to take a 58-42 lead with 16 minutes to go.
In the first half, Liberty shot 65.4 percent from the field and needed a buzzer-beater from Cleveland to lead 42-38 at the intermission. Cleveland led all players with 15 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Bears were an even 50 percent from the field themselves in the first half with Zaxton King knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, and Palek providing 11 points and 6 rebounds in the stanza. The Bears used an 8-0 surge near the midway point in the period to erase an early six-point deficit and push ahead 20-18 on King’s first three.
The Bears held Liberty to just two threes in the first half but surrendered 28 points in the paint.
MoState now returns to Great Southern Bank Arena to begin a three-game home stand on Thursday against LA Tech at 7:30 p.m. for a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. The Bears then entertain Delaware on Saturday, Feb. 14 for Hall of Fame Weekend which will feature former Missouri State standouts Kyle Weems and Alize Johnson, among others.
The home stand concludes Feb. 18 against Kennesaw State (7 p.m.).
