Missouri Southern State University got off to a positive start in its men’s basketball contest Tuesday when it played host to Pittsburg State University inside Robert Ellis Young Gymnasium.

But a 15-0 run changed things, as the Gorillas grabbed a 13-point lead and went on to claim an 82-71 victory.

“It was just huge. I thought we did a really good job of getting paint touches and making the ball kind of pop and moving the ball around the floor and getting into our rotations. And ... we handled their pressure better,” PSU head coach Jeff Boschee said. “We did a really good job of keeping the ball moving.”

Boschee saw his team adjust to MSSU’s full-court press after the first 10 minutes or so.

“We tried to set the tone early, and I thought we were playing some pretty good basketball but give credit to Pitt. I thought they turned up the heat defensively and especially physicality,” MSSU head coach Sam McMahon said. “They were physical in the half court. I thought they really kind of punked us. That’s something we have to go back and fix.”

Southern jumped out to a 7-0 lead and more than three minutes had passed before Pittsburg put the ball through the basket.

The Lions later tallied 4 in a row to make it 20-10 and got to their largest lead of the game. Boschee took a timeout at the 11:15 mark.

After that, the Gorillas started to put things together.

But MSSU kept its lead for the next 3 1/2 minutes. Its last lead was 23-21 and then PSU took off on its 15-0 run to grab a 36-23 advantage.

“They banged some 3’s and got going. They had some open looks. When a team like that can get the 3 going, they’re hard to guard because they got guards that can get in the paint and kick it out,” McMahon said. “You have to stop the paint touch or go out to the shooter and we decided to stop the paint touch and they kicked it out for the open looks.”

The Lions’ Collin Ruffin ended the run with a basket on the interior to make it 36-25. But the last four minutes of the first half were back and forth for the most part and Pitt State held a 43-33 lead into halftime.

The second half was similar as PSU led by as many as 14. MSSU cut it to 8 points at 53-45 with 11:49 to play, the closest the game would get.

“When you get down like that against a good team like that, it’s hard. You have to make layups, you have to make shots,” McMahon said.

The Gorillas shot 56.6% in the game and were 41.7% from beyond the arc, making 8 of 15 attempts from outside in the first half.

McMahon says their high rate of shooting was partially because of his team’s defense and partially because of PSU’s good shooting in the game.

Pitt State also made the comeback difficult for Southern by sinking its last eight free throw attempts. It had gone 4 for 14 prior to the final three minutes of the game.

“You can’t simulate pressure in practice. You just have to be tough enough to be able to step up and make them. I think some of our guys were shooting them a little flat,” Boschee said. “Our guys settled down and made them when they needed to and it worked out for us.”

MSSU (7-7, 1-4 MIAA) was led by Jaden Taylor’s 23 points and nine rebounds. Other Lions in double figures were Ruffin and Gavyn Elkamil with 14 each. Southern had fewer turnovers (nine) than PSU (13) and won the offensive rebounding battle 16-8.

PSU (10-5, 4-1 MIAA) got 26 points from Connor Rogers. Ethan Sage tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Mason English chipped in 14 points and a team-high eight assists.

Not feeling right

MSSU’s Tyrone Wright Jr. battled through illness to play against the border rival as he tallied 5 points and six rebounds before he got sick in the second half of the game. He was pulled from the action shortly after.

Missing piece

MSSU is awaiting the return of another post player who plays alongside Wright down low in Storm Gilchrist. Gilchrist is dealing with a back injury.

“That’s a big loss for us. We need him moving forward,” McMahon said.

Days of Young

Young Gymnasium is old and when Boschee left Missouri Southern for Pittsburg State, he may not have ever expected to be back in Young Gym for any sort of competition.

“I actually liked it,” he said. “It was pretty fun. Pretty intimate atmosphere. The crowd is right on top of you. I talked to coach (Robert) Corn about playing in here. It’s kind of cool to come back here and play. I practiced in here a ton of times but it’s kind of cool to see a crowd like this in Young Gym.”