PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Chase Cox hit five first-half 3-pointers and the rest was history as Shawnee State (Ohio) never recovered in a 73-59 loss to Lindsey Wilson College on Thursday at the Frank and Janis Waller Gymnasium.

Cox finished with a game-high 17 points and was joined in double figures by Kalen Kimberland (15), Chase Spreen (14) and Justin Archie with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Bears were led by Mark Bryant's 15 points, while Tyler Morgan scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Shawnee State (10-16, 4-10 MSC) struggled from the field, shooting 35.5 percent from the field and just 23.8 percent from the three-point line. Lindsey Wilson, on the other hand, hit at 50.0 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from behind the arc.

Rebounds were close with the Blue Raiders at a slight 38-36 advantage, while Shawnee State did claim nine steals as Lindsey Wilson turned the ball over 16 times.

Behind seven first-half 3-pointers, Lindsey Wilson (17-8, 9-4 MSC) raced out to a 36-20 lead with 3:20 left in the first half after a layup by Archie.

Cox closed out the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, getting it off with 0.7 seconds on the clock off an inbounds pass to take the Blue Raiders into halftime up 41-25.

Shawnee State – after being down by 18 or more points a majority of the second half – finally made a run back at the Blue Raiders late in the game.

With 5:27 to play the Bears were down by 17 at 64-47 with Andrew Devlin at the line for a pair of free throws. The sophomore hit just one to make the 16-point deficit the lowest Shawnee State had faced since halftime.

The Bears continued to claw away over the final four minutes, getting within 12 points on a layup by Bryant with 42.3 second to play.

Lindsey Wilson turned the ball over on the next possession, but Morgan missed a 3-pointer and failed to get the rebound as Kimberland finished the game off with a runaway layup.

The final basket moved Kimberland into 14th place on the all-time scoring leaders list at Lindsey Wilson.

The Blue Raiders are back in action at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday at No. 10 Georgetown (Ky.) for a fight for first place in the Mid-South Conference.