Missouri State basketball opens Virgin Islands trip with win over Florida Gulf Coast

Missouri State picked up from where it left off against Oral Roberts and cruised to a wire-to-wire victory over Florida Gulf Coast in the first round of its multi-team event.

A 70-61 win over FGCU saw the Bears lead by as many as 20 with 11:47 left in their first game of the Paradise Jam at the Virgin Islands.

With the win, the Bears (2-1) advanced to the tournament semifinals on Sunday at 7 p.m. and will play Kent State. MSU has yet to qualify for an MTE title game under sixth-year head coach Dana Ford.

Alston Mason led the Bears with 20 points with Matthew Lee and Donovan Clay each adding 17. MSU also got a career-high 11 points out of N.J. Benson.

More: Missouri State football finishes 2023 season with trip to No. 1 South Dakota State

Missouri State made 12 of 15 shots from deep during the game with Mason hitting four and Lee making five. The Bears shot 54.3% overall while holding the Eagles to 41.8%.

Junior guard Chance Moore did not play in the game after suffering a Grade 1 ankle sprain during the Bears’ win over Oral Roberts on Monday. He has been practicing and was in uniform but Ford opted not to play him.

His presence wasn’t needed as MSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead less than four minutes into the game and didn’t look back. The Bears built their lead to double-digits with 7:14 left in the first half and didn’t allow it to get within single digits again until there was 3:13 left in the second. Mason hit a jumper and a pair of free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.

Kent State is coming off a 100-62 win over Hampton on Friday night. They are 3-1 to start the season. Former Missouri State signee and Parkview star Tyem Freeman is on the Golden Flashes’ roster and is using his final season of eligibility after transferring from Central Florida.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He’s also the host of the weekly “Wyatt’s World Podcast” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms