by ValleyFAN » February 2nd, 2023, 7:54 am
The Bears held off Valpo last night without Donovan Clay, who missed the game at the last minute due to illness. Was a weird game in that each team had big stretches of the game with dominant play. The Bears built multiple leads of 8 points, and I think Valpo led by 9 at one point as well. The Bears seemed dead in the water down 7 with just a few minutes left but Oklahoma transfer PG Alston Mason put the team on his back with some key buckets and forced overtime, where the Bears dominated. Mason's play has really elevated the last couple of weeks as he's been featured in a more prominent role. He played all 45 minutes last night without coming off the floor.
Valpo did some good things to lead for big portions of the game and then rally to re-take the lead midway through the second half after the Bears came out swinging. Krikke is so hard to shut down and Kobe King did some nice things at times. Green stepped up and hit some huge second half shots. I dont know why Valpo allowed Mason to be left wide open beyond the arc so often in the games final minutes. Just seems like perhaps the final nail in the coffin for Matt Lottich.
Big win for Missouri State considering the logjam in the standings and the fact that a good and excitable group of students showed up. Wyatt Wheeler in the News-Leader wrote a great article, albeit painful to read, about the poor atmosphere and fan support at Bears home games and I think some of the students took it to heart. They made a difference last night.