SW Missouri State Bears Basketball Tickets

The faith Barry Hinson showed in his freshmen two seasons ago could pay huge dividends this season for the school formerly known as Southwest Missouri State. Now juniors, Blake Ahearn, Nate Bilyeu, Deven Mitchell andTyler Chancy form the nucleus of a team that will be trying to build on last season's strong finish.
After dropping to 7-8 in mid-January, the Bears went on a closing surge that saw them win nine of their final 12 regular-season games, then return to the championship game of die Valley Tournament for the second straight season. They couldn't claim the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament but wound up returning to post-season play, where they went 1—1 in the NIT.
Chaney, Bilyeu and DekeThompson are returning starters, while Ahearn and Mitchell are among the key reserves back. Ahearn is a sweet shooter, bodi from the floor and the line — he's led Division I in free throw percentage the past two seasons — but he needs to pick up his defense to be considered one of the leagues premier players. Thompson made 45.4 percent of his 3-point attempts, Chaney is difficult (6'5", 205) to handle on the offensive end, and Bilyeu is a tireless worker who gets the most from his talent.
The big hole that needs filling is the one left by the departure of 67", 240-pound Tamarr Maclin, die Valleys top rebounder last season. The leading candidates to replace Maclin are 6'10" Sky Frazier and 6'9" Drew Richards, but both were inconsistent as freshmen.