Missouri State Bears Down South Carolina State 92-74 at Great Southern Bank Arena.

The Missouri State Bears opened up a 21-0 first half lead and held on for a 92-74 win over South Carolina State Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena.

The Bears played the game in front of members of the 1999 NCAA Tournament team, who advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to Duke.

One of the stars of that 1999 team, Danny Moore, had his #32 jersey retired during halftime of Saturday’s game.

The ceremony was attended by the coach of that squad, Steve Alford, who is currently coaching Nevada.

Damien Mayo, Junior gave the Bears a quick 5-0 advantage just one minute and nine seconds into the contest on a jumper and a three pointer.

Senior Donovan Clay added a couple of free throws, then Matthew Lee made it a 10-0 ball game with a three pointer at the 16:44 mark.

Alston Mason and N.J. Benson scored during the run, then Clay made it a 19-0 lead with a three pointer at the 13:44 mark before adding a couple of free throws to finish run at 21.

The Bulldogs used a 23-10 run of their own to pull within eight of the lead with just under three minutes left in the half on a three pointer by Atiba Taylor, but MSU extended the lead to a dozen, 44-32 at the half.

MSU saw its lead shrink to eight, 57-49, when Davion Everett hit a shot for the Bulldogs with 12:52 left in regulation, was fouled and made the free throw.

But Clay’s layup for the Bears with 12:23 remaining put MSU up by double digits, 59-49.

South Carolina State would get the margin under ten several more times in the second half, the last on a three pointer by Wilson Dubinsky with 10:47 left that made it a 62-54 contest.

But MSU went on a 9-0 run, highlighted by the impressive play of 6-9 junior transfer Cesare Edwards, who made three layups during the stretch, as the Bears extended their margin to 20 points late in the contest.

Missouri State (5-1) has won five consecutive games after a season-opening loss at West Virginia.

Lee led the Bears in scoring with 28 points, while Clay added 15, Edwards 13, and Mason 11.

MSU went 34-43 from the free throw line (79.1%), including an impressive 14-16 effort by Lee.

The Bears shot 59% from the field for the game.

Missouri State committed 21 turnovers in the contest.

South Carolina State (2-5), shot 31% from the field, was paced by Dubinsky’s 18 points.

The Bears open conference play against the Evansville Aces Wednesday night at Great Southern Bank Arena.

Tipoff is 7:00 p.m. with the pregame at 6:30 p.m. on 93-3 A-M 560 KWTO.