ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist shot just 37 percent from the floor, but had just enough in the tank to pull out a win. The Spartans were the recipients of a last-second, coast-to-coast effort by Kalvin Lewis in a 73-71 win over Harris Stowe State University on Saturday.
Missouri Baptist (3-13, 3-4 AMC) needed every bit of Saturday's game to squeak-out a win on home court and get its third win on the season against a motivated Harris Stowe Hornets team.
The game went wire-to-wire as both teams put together solid efforts. The game went back and forth in the first half until the Hornets went on a 13-6 run to end the first 20 minutes of play.
After the break, Missouri Baptist had its work cut out for it. Down by seven, the Spartans were 0-9 on the year when trailing at the half. That streak ended thanks to a big effort by the Spartans down the stretch. MBU relinquished the first bucket of the second half, but went on a 12-4 run of its own from that point to cut the deficit to one.
Over the course of the game, there was no bigger effort put-in than that of freshman guard Chris Buzzell. The Houston native netted a new career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead all scorers. He also was an astounding 5-9 from three-point range in the win.
Down by one with just over under 15 minutes to play, the Spartans continued to hang around. Finally, with 8:45 in regulation, Missouri Baptist took its first lead in over 17 minutes on a free throw by Logan Quinn. The Moorspark, Calif., native went 7-8 from the charity stripe on the night.
As Quinn gave the home team the lead, Missouri Baptist continued to extend its advantage. The Spartans led by as many as eight with 1:38 to play as the Hornets made a dramatic comeback.
Harris Stowe, led by James Kenner and Joe Henderson, went on a dramatic 10-2 run to tie the game with just 12 seconds left. Both finished with 17 points on the night.
With just 12 seconds remaining, Missouri Baptist had one opportunity to get the game-winning shot. With the game hanging in the balance, it was senior leader Kalvin Lewis who took the ball. The guard went coast-to-coast and managed to, in double coverage, put-up a layup just off the glass that somehow found the bottom of the net.
That shot, with just 2 seconds remaining on the clock, became the decisive bucket and Missouri Baptist collected a nail-biting victory. Lewis finished the game with 17 points while Chad Smith also provided senior leadership with eight points and five rebounds. Smith also went 2-5 from three-point range, his second consecutive game to shoot over 40 percent from downtown.
As a team, MBU was 50 percent from behind the arc in the second half and 71 percent from the free throw line. The Hornets, on the other hand, felt the sting of the free-throw stripe. As a team, HSSU shot 42 percent from line in the game.
It was as big of a win as Missouri Baptist has had this season ,and the team now moves to 3-4 in conference play with a big game coming-up on Thursday in Parkville, Mo. The team will face the Park University Pirates on the road and tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Breckon Sports Complex.
