CARLINVILLE, Ill. – The Mississippi University for Women men's basketball squad squandered a 21-point second-half lead in a 77-73 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) loss at Blackburn College. The setback dropped the Owls to 7-13 overall (3-10 SLAIC), while the Beavers upped their record to 7-13 (6-7 SLIAC).
 
The W looked to be in cruise control, carrying a 41-24 cushion in to the halftime locker room. MUW extended that to its largest lead of the game – 21 points (59-38) – with 12:41 left in the contest. During the next 11 minutes, however, the Beavers gnawed at the Owls advantage, catching The W (66-66) with 5:21 left and building a 74-68 lead of their own with 1:50 let to play (a 36-9 run by Blackburn in that span).
 
But The W still found itself in a position to perhaps send the contest to overtime, twice, down the stretch. A pair of free throws by Chris Evans with 39 seconds left got the Owls to within a single possession, 75-72. That forced MUW to foul, which it immediately did, to get the Beavers a one-and-one. Blackburn missed the free throw, but the miss took a long bounce off the iron and was collared by BC, forcing another foul by The W and more free throws by Blackburn, which converted one.
 
Then with 20 seconds left, Josh Dukes made the second of two free throws to make it 76-73. With 17 seconds left a Beavers' turnover gave MUW a last gasp. But the Owls returned the favor with an immediate turnover of their own, effectively dashing any hopes.
 
Evans finished with a team-high totals of 21 points and seven rebounds. He was 7-of-16 from the floor, including a 5-for-10 night from beyond the arc.
 
Cam Smith went 7-for-14 from the field, on his way to a 16-point game. Dariun Doss added 13 points by converting 6-of-9 attempts from the floor.
 
Brye Hopkins and Dukes each grabbed six rebounds. Hopkins and Dukes booked eight and five points, respectively.
 
MUW will continue its road trip on Saturday (Feb. 3/3 p.m.) for a SLIAC bout at Eureka College.