FULTON, Mo. – Missouri Baptist men's basketball took advantage of missed William Woods opportunities underneath the basket and outstanding free throw shooting in a 70-66 win on Thursday evening.
The Spartans started the game poised and controlled. After William Woods knocked-down the games' opening shot, Billy Bizzell took advantage of a rare start and evened the game at two on the next possession. By the 15:50 mark of the opening frame, MBU built an 8-4 lead.
From the outset, it was clear that LeAndre Johnson would have an early impact. The senior who is closing in on 1,000 career points drained his first two shot attempts of the game.
William Woods held the game close on home court and took a brief two-point lead thanks to a three-pointer by Seth Thomas. It was at this point that both teams settled-in. The Owls traded blows with the Spartans in the closing minutes of the period, but thanks to a flurry of shots made by WWU in the final minutes, the home team carried a 33-31 lead into the break.
The second-half got underway and neither team seemed in sync for the first few minutes. William Woods took as much as a 44-38 lead with just over 13 minutes remaining, when LauRen Jones hit a key three to cut the Owl lead to three points.
The Spartans continued to work their way back into the game as Jones hit another bucket just a minute later to make it a one-point, 45-46 deficit. After two good free throws by the Owls to get the lead back to three, Kalvin Lewis and Theodore King broke in two on one as King drove home the dunk to get back within one.
MBU took advantage of several missed opportunities by William Woods, which directly led to the second-half comeback. After all that had transpired, it was Jones who put team back on top with two free throws to make it a 51-50 lead for the team from St. Louis.
As quickly as the Spartans built the lead, the advantage evaporated. William Woods quickly went on a 4-0 run to build a 58-55 lead. The half was filled with varied heroes for Missouri Baptist. Jones, the guard who played his first game on Jan. 3 and Bizzell, who has been used primarily as a bench player this season all came to the forefront.
With just under three minutes remaining on the clock, the Spartans looked as strong as it had the entire game. The team put together a big run to gain a 65-56 lead and held on with stingy defense to get the difficult road win.
For the Owls, Logan Decker led the way with 17 points and hit his 1,500th point in the process. Daniel Armah was also very good. He finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds to collect a double-double.
Missouri Baptist had four finish in double-digits and Lau'Ren Jones finished the game with 11 points. Adrian Kuyinu led MBU in points with 12 on the night while Billy Bizsell's five were all key shots. Senior LeAndre Johnson added 10 points to his career total and now sits with 933 points as he continues to reach toward the 1,000 point mark in his career.
Next up for MBU is a big home game against Hannibal-LaGrange on Saturday as the Spartans will have the chance to move within one game of .500 on the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.
