Missouri State basketball outlasts Kent State to advance to Paradise Jam championship

It wasn’t pretty but it didn’t matter — Missouri State came out on top against the best team it’s played so far this young season and it will play for a championship.

The Bears (3-1) held on for a 56-52 win over Kent State (3-2) on Sunday night in the semifinal round of the Paradise Jam at the Virgin Islands.

Missouri State will play Abilene Christian (3-2) on Monday at 7 p.m. in the multi-team event’s title game. The Wildcats defeated Fordham 59-45 on Sunday evening. It will be the Bears’ first MTE title game appearance since 2013.

The Bears struggled to hit shots, especially in the second half, but they clamped down on the defensive end. MSU made just 7 of 26 shots in the second half but limited the Golden Flashes to 10 of 33 (30.3%) over the same stretch.

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Kent State, which scored 100 points in its first-round win over Hampton, finished the game shooting 32.8% from the field. It couldn’t take advantage of the Bears’ 19 turnovers and a stretch in which it made just one of 17 attempts.

Donovan Clay finished the game with 16 points and nine rebounds. Matthew Lee recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Missouri State had the advantage on the boards with a 51-37 margin.

Chance Moore, who left last Monday’s win over Oral Roberts with an ankle injury, started for the Bears. He scored nine points in 30 minutes.

The Bears led by nine after a Cesare Edwards 3 with 8:51 left. Kent State went on an 8-0 run over the next six-plus minutes to cut MSU’s lead to one with 2:43 to go. Lee and Clay ended the run with Lee hitting his free throws down the stretch to hold off the comeback attempt.

Abilene Christian, the Bears’ championship opponent, advanced to the title game with wins over San Jose State and Fordham. It has losses to North Carolina State and Prairie View A&M after starting the season with a 64-59 win at Oklahoma State.

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