Cougs place 4th at Great Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – DaVonte Lacy scored 26 of his 31 points after halftime as Washington State beat Missouri State 89-84 in the fourth-place game of the Great Alaska Shoot- out on Saturday.

Washington State (3-3) took an 83-78 lead on a 6-0 run capped by Ike Iroegbu’s scooping layup with 1:35 left in overtime.

Dorrian Williams made two free throws to get Missouri State (3-3) within 83-82 with 26 seconds left, but Lacy made all six free throws from there to keep the Cougars in front.

WSU trailed 45-33 at halftime and never led in the second, but tied the Bears twice late in regulation. Que Johnson’s 3-pointer with 30.8 seconds left sent the game to overtime at 74-all.

Iroegbu had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists and Johnson scored 10. Josh Hawkinson and Ny Redding added 11 apiece.

Camyn Boone led the Bears with 19 points and Marcus Marshall and Loomis Gerring each added 18 points. Austin Ruder scored 14 and Williams 13.

Williams twice cut the deficit to one in the final 30 seconds of overtime, but missed a layup in heavy traffic with 10 seconds left and Lacy put the Cougars up by five with his final pair of free throws.

After MSU took a 49-35 lead early in the second half, Lacy made a jumper and 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to spark an 8-0 run that pulled WSU within six. Ruder’s 3-pointer for the Bears with 15:34 left stopped the run, but Lacy quickly answered with another 3 and the Cougars stayed within eight from there.

Missouri State held at least a four-point advantage until Hawkinson’s three-point play brought WSU within 71-69 with 2:39 left in regulation. Johnson made a pair of free throws 29 seconds later to tie the game.

Marshall made a 3-pointer to put the Bears up 74-71 with 1:52 left and both teams went scoreless until Johnson’s 3-pointer tied the game again.