Southern (2-1) opened the home portion of the schedule with a tough 74-72 loss Tuesday night to Arkansas-Fort Smith (4-0) in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.

The game saw the Lions revert back to a team telling a story of two halves. Southern came out early scoring at will and forcing turnovers, only to see their hopes dashed by a second half filled with mistakes.

Next up for the Lions will be two contests in Pittsburg at the Pittsburg State Tournament, where Southern will hit the hardwood against Avila at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by a game with Bethany at 1 p.m. on Saturday as the team looks to bounce back from the first loss of the year.

“We are all ready to play and get that win,” said junior forward Stephen Atkinson.

Early on against Fort Smith, the size of Southern dominated the contest. Newcomer Slim Magee and Marquis Addison worked to push the Lions to an early lead before center Greg Renfroe threw down a monster dunk off an assist from Cameron Cornelius to make the score 27-19.  A play fired up the crowd and the Lion defense. Southern followed the possession with a steal.

The Lions moved up and down the court helped by turnovers from Fort Smith, and, with just over three minutes left in the half, extended the advantage to 37-32 after a three-point-play from senior Jordan Talbert.

After another run, the Lions went to the locker room with an 11-point lead at 45-34. After the break they were able to extend the advantage to 16 (50-34), the biggest of the game.

From then on the game was downhill as Southern slipped into a lull and Fort Smith caught fire. The gap closed to 53-47 with 13 minutes left to play. Just as the game seemed to be slipping away, Addison made a clutch three to grab a bit of momentum.

The Lions once again went cold and left shooters open. After two consecutive three-balls by Fort Smith’s Seth Youngblood, the advantage was cut to 70-68.

As the final minutes ticked away, Fort Smith made the key plays that the Lions did not. Tramel White hit a runner with five seconds left to give Fort Smith a 74-72 lead, and when the clock hit zeros, Talbert missed his attempt to tie the game.

“This weekend is going to say a lot about our character as a team,” said Talbert. “We need to improve on our focus, just making sure we are zoned in throughout the game and not just in spurts.”

 Addison led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 3 of 5 from long distance and adding a rebound and two steals. Cornelius followed on the stat sheet with 14 points while Talbert narrowly missed another double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.