Jermaine Mallett and Adam Leonard scored 15 apiece, and Missouri State outrebounded Saint Louis by a 35-28 margin to secure a 73-63 non-conference win at Chaifetz Arena and improve to 10-0.
The win gave Missouri State a 10-0 record for the first time since 1996-97 and just the second time in its Division I era.
After holding a narrow 31-28 lead at the half, the Bears stormed out of the locker room with a 10-2 run to start the second half and quickly gain an 11-point advantage less than four minutes into the second period.
The Bears improved their lead to 13 with 10:12 to play on a three-pointer by Adam Leonard, his second of the game, to pull ahead 51-38. However, the Billikens (7-4) used a flurry of three-pointers that began at the 9:47 mark to pull within 53-49 at the 7:09 mark on Christian Salecich’s second three of the half.
Missouri State made 26-of-30 (.867) free throws in the game and fired at a 52.2-percent clip in the second half to finish 22-for-50 (.440).
Saint Louis was led by Willie Reed’s 19 points, while Salecich and Justin Jordan contributed 15 apiece. The Billikens were 20-for-51 (.392) from the field and 18-of-23 (.783) at the line.
Missouri State closes out its non-conference schedule Tuesday at Arkansas (6-5) for a 7:05 p.m. start. Story courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.
