Saturday afternoon the Bears limped over to Moberly, MO for their game against Central Christian College of the Bible following a tough loss the night before at St. Louis Christian College (Florissant, MO). While the Bears neared the midway point of conference play, the stakes were increased against CCCB as both teams battled for seeding in the looming MCCC tournament.

It was a familiar tune early in the game for the Bears as the Saints knocked down some early threes and controlled the offensive glass to build an early lead. However, thanks to the sharp shooting of Freshman Caleb Davis, who finished 3-6 from three, the Bears stayed in contact with Saints even though they would trail by a score of 28-43 at halftime.

While the situation looked bleak, the Bears were able to inch back into the game. In the early portion of the second half, CCCB’s best post picked up his third foul and they were forced into a zone. The Bears took advantage of the Saints interior play as they slashed through their zone and attacked the basket with abandonment, capitalizing on 25 of 34 second half free throws. In the waning minutes of the game, the Bears were able to get key stops defensively and knock down free throws to seal the win, 78-74. The Bears improved to 2-4 in MCCC play with three home conference games remaining.

Four Bears scored in double figures: Senior Austin Ogle (16), Davis (14), Junior Tommy Leach (13), and Freshman David Lewis (10). Ogle also pulled down 12 boards for his first ever double-double.

On Tuesday, the Bears will take on Hillsdale Free Will Baptist (Moore, OK) at Hockett Auditorium at 7:00 PM CST.