ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist men's basketball nearly pulled-off what no team has been able to accomplish this season. The Spartans entered the half with a five-point lead, but lost a nail-biter with the undefeated, No. 1 team in the nation 69-64.
Missouri Baptist (14-13, 8-5) started slow but quickly regained its composure. The Spartans trailed 9-2 early but went on a 9-1 run to take an 11-10 lead on the top-ranked Cougars.
MBU held firm throughout the half. Thanks in part to LeAndre' Johnson's 11 first-half points, the home team gained a 33-28 lead at the half.
All was looking up for Missouri Baptist, but Columbia showed why it is the last undefeated team in the nation. MBU posted the first bucket of the half, but the Cougars went on a 25-9 run to take a 53-44 lead.
As the Spartans trailed by nine, they continued to look for ways to get back into the game, but the team was plagued by turnovers. MBU committed 10 giveaways in the second half alone, allowing the Cougars several easy fast break opportunities.
With just seven minutes to go, the Cougars led 58-50, but could not shake the Spartans. Kalvin Lewis hit a big three with 6:25 on the clock to ignite the crowd and cut the deficit to five points. Lewis did it again three minutes later and made it a 61-58 Columbia lead.
The Cougars, however, played head-up ball the rest of the way and had just enough to hold-off MBU.
Columbia was led by Derrick Dilworth, who went 7-12 from the field and finished with 21 points. Jordan Dressler, who had an off night, finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Cougars shot 66 percent from three-point range in the second half and finished the game shooting 37 percent from the floor.
The Spartans were led by the 20-point, five rebound performance of LeAndre' Johnson. The senior now has 1157 career points. Lewis also chipped-in 15 points while Adrian Kuyinu rounded-out those that finished in double digits with 14 of his own.
Missouri Baptist outshot and out-rebounded Columbia, but turnovers cost the team the game in the late stages. It was, however only the second-time this season that the Cougars won by five or less points. Heading into American Midwest Conference playoffs in just over a week's time, it makes the tournament that much more interesting.
The Spartans will travel to Williams Baptist College on Saturday before returning home for the team's final regular season home game of the year. MBU will host William Woods on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.
