The Barclay College men’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with NAIA Division II Southwestern College (Winfield, Kan.) on Tuesday night at the historic Stewart Field House. It was a tightly contested match that saw the Moundbuilders prevail in the end.

The Bears scored the first two buckets of the game, and took a 4-0 lead less than a minute into Tuesday’s non-conference contest and then countered a couple Moundbuilder buckets with a 10-0 run over a four minute span to build a 11-point, 18-7, lead with 11:57 remaining until halftime. The lead would disappear as Southwestern closed the game to 25-27 with 3:28 left and then finished out the half with a 10-0 run of their own as the Bears failed to capitalize on several great looks at the basket.

A pair of buckets helped Southwestern start the second half on an 8-2 run, followed by a three by the Moundbuilders help build their lead to 43-29 by the 17:33 mark of the final stanza. The Bears, however, kept themselves in the game, and chipped away methodically at the Moundbuilder lead over the next six minutes. A 14-6 Bear run over that time brought Barclay to within six (49-43) with 11:01 remaining on the Stewart Field House clock. The Bears stayed within 10 points of the Moundbuilders for the next five minutes, but Southwestern controlled the final six minutes of the contest to pull away with a 80-57 win. The Bears shot just 36 percent from the field compared to Southwestern’s 45 percent.

The Bears (8-11) host Calvary Bible College (Belton, Mo.) on Friday night and then Ozark Christian College (Joplin, M0.) on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bears play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the men at 3 p.m. and the men’s alumni game at 5 p.m.