Michael Bauer, Sports Editor

The Pittsburg State men’s basketball team used an early 15-2 run in the first half and then a 13-5 run halfway through the second half to build a 19-point lead and eventually a 74-55 win over the fourth-seeded Lindenwood Lions in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. on Thursday, Mar. 5.
In a game in which they never trailed, the Gorillas (18-11 overall, 12-7 in the MIAA) shot 56 percent form the floor and were 15-18 on free throws.
Lindenwood (17-12, 12-7) was held to just 19-54 on field goals for 35.2 percent and were only 9-16 on free throws.
Senior Devon Branch led the Gorillas in scoring with 16 points including four free throws.
Sophomore Trevor Gregory and freshman Dakota Jones each finished with 13 points while junior Trey Starks had 11 points and was a perfect 4-4 from the line.
Junior Javis Flynn may have only scored one point but had six rebounds-all of which came on defense as well as two steals.
“I thought defensively we were very good tonight,” Pitt State head coach Kevin Muff said. “Probably the most efficient teams in our conference and we did a good job of controlling shooters, making them have to work. I think the rebounding margin was even but I thought we did a good job of limiting second shot opportunities. We did a nice job defensively. It all starts up top with Javis (Flynn) and Dakota (Jones).
The Lions were powered by Cory Arentsen who had 20 points from 6-14 shooting and was 5-6 from the line. He had 10 total rebounds, grabbing seven on defense and three on offense. Chanse Creekmur had 10 points and six rebounds while Darris Smith scored seven and had five assists.
Two defensive rebounds by Gustafson and three inside jumpers by Gregory helped the Gorillas to an 8-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game.
Through the first eight minutes of the game, the Lions shot only 9.1 percent. The Gorillas took a 15-2 advantage after a 3-pointer by Jones and a turnaround jumper by Branch.
“Offensively we were pretty efficient,” Muff said. “We did a good job of finding lane gaps. Every time they made a run, we had an answer.”
It wasn’t until the 10:59 mark when Lindenwood broke their scoring drought with a 3-pointer by LJ McInctosh.
It was the start of an 11-3 run for the Lions.
Cory Arentsen scored the Lions’ second outside shot and followed it up with a transition basket off a turnover by junior Flynn and after a Darris Smith jumper, Lindenwood only trailed by eight.
“It’s a game of runs,” Muff said. “They made runs and we were able to make runs back. you always want momentum heading into halftime.”
A steal by Flynn from Sam Mader led to a layup by Starks to take an 11-point lead. Junior Lamine Dieng’s second basket of the day came from a dunk and the Gorillas led 28-18 with 5:23 in the first half.
With 49 seconds before halftime, Branch converted a three-point play and Pitt State led 34-25 at intermission.
“Coming out and establishing it (the run) that was big,” Muff said. “I told them at halftime that if you watch enough college basketball you know that you will make a run back at you. How you handle it and I think we did a good job of responding. You want to come out and establish yourself because that’s in the back of their mind the rest of the game.”
Lindenwood began the second half on an 8-0 run after a layup by Sam Mader and a free throw by Arentsen. Garrett Reeg entered the game and drove inside the paint for a layup and the Lions only trailed by one with 16:46 left in the game.
Jones scored the Gorillas’ first basket of the second half from three-point land with 16:17 on the clock.
Dieng scored off a fast-break dunk after a Flynn defensive rebound from a Nick Van Osdale 3-pointer miss to give the Gorillas a 47-38 lead.
The Lions managed to cut the lead to five but PSU kept responding as Dieng added a layup and Branch converted two charities to make it 51-43 with 9:14 remaining.
A missed jumper by Arentsen was rebounded by Jones and Starks shot from an eight-foot jumper to give the Gorillas another nine-point lead. Gregory soon made it 10-points after drawing a foul by Creekmur.
Gustafson’s turnaround jumper made it 60-48 and the Lions took a timeout with 5:48 on the clock.
The Lions struggled to find an answer. A missed 3-pointer by Creekmur was rebounded by the Gorillas and Jones shot a floater on the ensuing possession to cap a 13-5 run.
“We established our will in the defensive game and we struggled to score a little bit but Devon (Branch) stepped up and had a couple of baskets and it just helps us when we can defend like that and get a run,” Flynn said.
Another Lindenwood possession came up empty as Michael Boss’s outside attempt clunked off the side iron and into the hands of Flynn with the Gorillas ahead 65-49 with under three minutes left.
“It started with our defense,” Gustafson said. “We held them to a lot of tough shots and we limited them to one shot and we got the break. That’s what coach has talked to us all year, when we get a defensive stop, it helps our offense during the game.”
For PSU, it was sweet revenge from their first meeting with Lindenwood in January when the Lions won 69-65 in St. Charles, Mo.
“It’s a nice revenge but they’re a good team they made runs but we made runs back and ended up finishing it out,” Gustafson said.
The Lions entered the game losing four of their last six. PSU had lost three of their last four but were fresh off a motivating 69-54 win over Northeastern State from Monday.
“We definitely needed to play on Monday after the let down we had the previous couple of games of the season,” Gustafson said. “It just gave us a chance to work on what we hadn’t been doing well offensively and defensively and gave us the confidence coming into the tournament. It was like one more practice to make sure we were ready for the tournament.”
With the win, PSU advances to the semi finals against number one seeded Northwest Missouri State (23-5, 15-4). The Gorillas beat the Bearcats in their last meeting, 69-67 in December but the Bearcats have since won the MIAA conference regular season title and are fresh off a 71-61 win over Washburn in the quarterfinals.
“This is one of the best teams in the league,” Muff said. “It opens up the door for us to play the conference champions Northwest Missouri. I’m excited and I know that our guys will be. Tonight, you saw a team that after Monday, there were a lot of people questioning, asking what are we going to show? What are we going to do? But it’s made up of a unique individual group. There’s no superstar per see in this group. But we have different guys on different nights that do a good job of steeping up. Javis, Dakota and Lamine stepped up the other night. Picking each other up and not getting too high or low allows this team to be really good. I’ll continue to challenge these guys and push them. They’re very competitive but I don’t think they’re done. We’ll find out on Saturday but I think they’ve got more in them.”
The game will tip off at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium.