BULLDOGS DOMINANT IN WIN AGAINST WAREGEM; 3-0 IN EUROPE
WAREGEM,
Belgium – In what was easily its best offensive performance since
traveling overseas, Mississippi State had five players score in
double-digits on Wednesday as the Bulldogs ran past Division II
standout Waregem 109-78 to improve to 3-0 in Europe. Freshman
reserve guard Deville Smith once again put on a dazzling performance,
as he poured in a team-high 22 points, 13 coming in the second half.
Senior standout Dee Bost, who wreaked havoc on both ends and hit clutch
shots when the game was still close, totaled 20. “I
just wanted to get the ball up and down the court,” Smith said. “I
thought as a team, we all did that. It was a great win for us. The
second half, Dee and Arnett (Moultrie) got us going.” Moultrie
was again solid, recording his second double-double of the trip with 19
points and 14 rebounds, with 11 of his boards coming in the second
half. Rounding out the double-digit scoring were Wendell Lewis and
Brian Bryant with 14. Of Bryant’s production, 12 came in the second half. He also grabbed eight rebounds, as did Lewis. “I was just out there trying to make plays,” Bryant said. “I knocked down my shots and was able to get some rebounds.” Despite the outcome, the game wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter. In
fact, the first quarter ended in a tie at 23-all. And less than two
minutes into the second frame, Waregem took a 27-26 lead on a 15-foot
pull-up by Thomas van de Vondel, a former Boston University standout
who totaled a game-high 31 points. But on the Bulldogs’ next two possessions, Bost hit two shots and drained a free throw to put his team on top, 31-27. From that point, it was all Mississippi State, which built a 52-44 lead at the break. But if there was a key moment of note, it was the start of the second half. Coming
out of the locker room, the Bulldogs orchestrated a 10-0 run and kept
their lead in double-double digits for the remainder of the game. Bost
sparked the run with four points, while Bryant, Rodney Hood and
Moultrie provided the other six. “I
thought the way we started the second half energized us and took a lot
out of them,” said MSU coach Rick Stansbury, whose team eclipsed the
100-point mark for the first time since putting up 105 against St.
Bonaventure in December of 2009 at Humphrey Coliseum. “We played with
energy, and this win was against one of the better teams here. I’ve
seen improvement, but I also know we still have a lot to work on.”
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