ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist men's basketball trailed by three at the half but played an inspired final 20 minutes of basketball in a 74-68 win on Thursday night at Harris Stowe.
Missouri Baptist (12-12, 6-4 AMC) trailed in the game from the beginning. By the 12:11 mark of the half, MBU trailed 14-5 causing Spartan Head Coach Ray Farrell to call a timeout. Things, however, went from bad to worse. With just five minutes remaining, the team trailed by 10.
As time clicked by in the first half, however, Missouri Baptist made things interesting. Led by the hot first-half shooting of Matt Holmes (12 points, 5-6 from the floor), the team closed the gap and trailed 40-37 heading into halftime.
MBU's momentum continued in the second half as the Spartans broke through to take a 51-50 lead with 14 minutes left in the game. As time continued to click away, the Spartans seemed to get stronger. Kalvin Lewis nailed a key three-pointer with 11:35 left to put Missouri Baptist up by five.
Throughout the final minutes of the game, the Spartans created chances and took advantage of the turnovers and fouls of the Hornets. The Spartans built as much as a 10 point lead in the second half and put the foot on the gas in the closing minutes to claim the vital road win.
For Harris Stowe, Dallis Johnson led the way. After posting 14, first-half points, Johnson finished with 26 on the night and added 15 rebounds to collect a double-double. Jordan Loveless provided big points for the Hornets on the night. He finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Matt Holmes led Missouri Baptist in the game. The sophomore finished the contest with 20 points. Theodore King also provided 12 points off the bench while LeAndre Johnson added nine-second-half points and finished with 11 for the game. Johnson now has 1,094 career points and will likely hit the 1,100 mark in his next game.
Missouri Baptist improved to 12-12 on the season and is back at .500 for the first time since the second game of the season on Nov. 3, 2012.
MBU will have a chance to capture a winning record on Saturday when the team plays host to Benedictine University-Springfield. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at the Carl and Deloris Petty Sports and Recreation Complex.
