Camyn Boone
Missouri State senior Camyn Boone scored a game-high 17 points and went 7-for-7 at the line to help the Bears (12-17, 8-9 MVC) to a 61-52 senior night win over visiting Drake, Wednesday at JQH Arena in Springfield.
Freshman Jarred Dixon added ten points and ten reboundsfor his first career double-double, while Chris Kendrix scored ten as well.
Drake (6-23, 1-16) got 16 points and 8 rebounds from Ore Arogundade, while Dominik Olejniczak added 12 points, and Billy Wampler scored 11 off the bench as the Bulldogs dropped their seventh straight.
Even though the Bears led for more than 32 minutes in the game, DU made it interesting midway through with a 15-0 run that extended through halftime, where the Bears went for a seven-and-a-half minute stretch without a field goal. Drake led 35-28 early in the second half.
MSU responded with a 13-0 run to regain the lead and Boone scored ten of MSU’s final 16 points, to seal the win.
The Bears blocked 11 shots – the club’s most under head coach Paul Lusk. Obediah Church had four.  Missouri State shot just 20-for-58 (.345) overall from the field.
GAME NOTES:
The victory marked a number of milestones for MSU, including its 90th win at JQH Arena and the 70th win for Lusk at MSU. Missouri State clinched its 45th consecutive winning season at home, including all eight years at JQH, while improving to 24-1 all-time at home against Drake.
With the win and Wednesday night losses by Loyola and Indiana State, the Bears moved back into sole possession of sixth place in the MVC standings with one game to play.
MSU wraps up the regular season Saturday at Southern Illinois (21-9, 10-7) with a 7 p.m. tipoff in Carbondale. The MVC Tournament runs March 3-6 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Story–MSU Athletics
