ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] The Missouri Baptist men's basketball team suffered a heart-breaking, buzzer-beater loss to Hannibal-LaGrange, 63-61. The Spartans dropped to 1-5, and 0-2 in American Midwest Conference play.
Missouri Baptist shot .375 from the floor in the contest, and made 8-of-20 from three-point range. The Trojans (1-5, 1-1) shot .431 in the contest, and made 7-of-14 from deep territory. The teams tied the rebounding battle, 38-38, and each team turned the ball over 15 times.
Stephen Buckner II led the Spartans with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. He made 3-of-4 three-pointers, and sank both free throw attempts. The junior guard pulled down six rebounds and dished-out five assists.
Sophomore guard Chris Buzzell dropped 14 points on 5-of-13 from the floor, and 2-of-7 from deep range. He made both free throws and pulled down four boards. The Texas native led the Spartans with three steals.
Senior Adrian Kuyinu scored 11 points, hitting 3-of-9 from the floor. He made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, and led MBU with seven rebounds.
Stephen Buckner hit a mid-range jumper to give the Spartans an 18-11 lead with 11:39 left in the half, but the Trojans went on a 12-2 run over the next 6:30 to take a 23-20 lead.
Buckner then tied the game at 23-23 with a deep three-ball with 4:58 left in the half, which would spark a 13-5 run, and give the Spartans a 33-28 lead.
The Spartans would be held scoreless over the final 2:11 of the half, but held the Trojans to just two points, giving MBU a 33-30 lead at the break.
Buckner and Buzzell led the Spartans at half with eight points each, as the Spartans shot .433 from the field as a team. MBU also hit 6-of-12 from three-point territory over the first 20 minutes. Hannibal-LaGrange shot .423 from the floor in the half, and hit 5-of-9 from deep range.
Junior Bryce Weibrecht blasted a long three-pointer to start the second half, which gave Missouri Baptist a 36-32 lead. Hannibal-LaGrange answered with a 7-0 run over the next 1:04 to take a 39-36 lead.
A great defensive stand by the Spartans on the next possession sparked a fire for the home team. Weibrecht planted his feet in the paint and took a big hit from HLG forward Tony Ardison. He was charged with an offensive foul, which set-up a game-tying three from Buckner on the next trip down the court.
The duo of Weibrecht and Buckner stuck again on the next possession, as Weibrecht gobbled-up a loose ball and found a wide-open Buckner, who hit the go-ahead two. That gave the Spartans a 41-39 lead with 16:02 left in the game, a lead in which they would possess until the fateful last shot.
With 11:44 left in the game, Jahmari Gordon gave Missouri Baptist its largest lead of the game at 49-40, on a jumper in the corner.
The Spartans held a lead of at least three points all the way to the final minute of the game. With 43 second left in the contest, the Trojans hit a two-point shot that cut the MBU lead to 61-60.
After a timeout by the Trojans, the Spartans had the ball with eight seconds separating the game clock and shot clock. Kuyinu's shot for the Spartans would not fall, setting up a transition for the Trojans. They kicked the ball out to Jay Jones, who drilled the NBA-range three as the buzzer sounded. The bucket gave Hannibal-LaGrange its first win of the season, 63-61.
Missouri Baptist will look to bounce-back at the Columbia College Classic next weekend. The Spartans play Culver-Stockton on Friday for the third time this season, and play Avila University on Saturday.
