LIBERTY, Mo. - The William Jewell men's basketball team has now won two in a row over Southwest Baptist, with a big 85-69 win on Saturday afternoon in the Mabee Center. The Cardinals improve to 10-9 on the season and 7-4 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cardinals trailed 4-1 early but exploded offensively with an 18-1 run over the next five minutes, led by six points from Mason Alexander. SBU finally got going, cut their deficit down to seven after a three from Bayley Crawford but six points by Jordan Jermain pushed the lead to a game high 15. The Bearcats scored five late points get back within single digits but Kobe McKinley got a floater to fall at the buzzer and make it a 44-32 Jewell lead at the break. 
• Early in the second half, Southwest Baptist cut the Jewell lead to seven after a three from RJ Crawford. From there, the Cardinals followed with a 17-2 run, led by seven points by Jermain and back-to-back scores by Isaac Patterson to give Jewell their largest lead of the day at 22 with just over eight minutes to play. The Bearcats got as close as 15 late but a late slam from McKinley sealed the game for the Cardinals.

KEY STATS

• Jewell was well balanced across the board as six players scored at least six points, led by Jermain's 22. McKinley added a season high 19 while Grant Stubbs had 10. 
• Heri Tshiyoyo was dominant in the paint with a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds to go with three assists.  
• The Cardinals shot nearly 51% from the floor and 43% from long range with 42 points in the paint. 
• Jewell grabbed 14 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second chance while turning the ball over only nine times. 

UP NEXT
The Cardinals are back in the Mabee Center on Thursday night as they take on nationally ranked Missouri-St. Louis for Scholar-Athlete Night. Nearly 300 Jewell student-athletes will be recognized at half time for their work in the classroom during the fall semester.