Michael Dixon scored 31 points and Missouri outscored a talented Bent-Schoenen Waregem squad, 63-47, over the final three quarters to earn an 81-72 victory in front of a vocal crowd in Waregem, Belgium. The Tigers started slow as Bent jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first 3:35. Bent hit four of its first five shots from the floor, including a pair of three-point plays and a three pointer.
Trailing 28-21 at the start of the second quarter sophomore Danny Feldmann hit back to back shots to pull Mizzou within three, 28-25. The Jefferson City native tipped in a Keion Bell miss and then stole an errant pass and raced down the floor for an easy layup. Bent then went on a 9-2 run to open up a 37-27.
“I give them a lot of credit,” Head Coach Frank Haith said. “They are a veteran club, so I knew they would have a lot of confidence coming in. I knew they would come out firing and they hit some shots early. I wanted our guys to hang in there and just stay patient. Once we did that, everything fell into place.”
The Tigers rallied to close to 46-42 at the break. Bent would score just 30 points the rest of the way and Mizzou held them to just 28% from the floor and 0-of-9 from three-point range in the final two quarters.