Zo's Bears have 'weathered the storm'; ready for Arch Madness
SPRINGFIELD, Mo–The Missouri State Bears on the other hand hope to snap a five game losing streak in St. Louis this week at Arch Madness.
It will be the 35th time that the Bears have played in the Missouri Valley post season tournament.
And it'll be the last time, with Missouri State moving to Conference USA this summer.
Sunday at Drake, the Bears almost beat the regular season champs.
Missouri State owned a ten point lead, midway through the second half, but Drake rallied.
A missed MoState free throw sent the game into overtime.
The Bulldogs outscored the Bears 9-1 in the extra five minutes and won the game 68-60.
It was the fifth time this season that Missouri State has played an overtime game.
'The resiliency of our guys, to their credit. You lose a lot of tough ones, you lose tough ones. You can easily fall apart. But they were persistent and stayed true. They insisted on getting better as a team. And then it just kind of happened. This is a really good league. But I certainly thought we'd be better. But not ashamed. Not disappointed. Because you win when he fight, and scratch and claw. Our guys stayed steady in the storm,' said coach Cuonzo Martin.
Here's what the top half of Thursday's Arch Madness bracket looks like:
At noon it's Southern Illinois against Indiana State, the winner gets the top seed Drake on Friday.
Missouri State will play the fifth seed Illinois State at 2:30p.m., the winner gets the fourth seed Belmont on Friday.
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