ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] A first half lead could not hold-up for the Missouri Baptist men's basketball team, as they fell to No. 24 Culver-Stockton, 81-73. The loss moves the Spartans to 1-6 on the season, but the squad has a chance at getting into the win column tomorrow afternoon against Avila to end the Columbia College Classic.
Missouri Baptist shot .324 from the field over the two halves, making 24-of-74 shots. The Spartans made 18-of-23 shots from the charity stripe and 7-of-24 from three-point range. Culver-Stockton hit 26-of-62 from the field and made 7-of-19 from deep range, while sinking 22-of-36 from the free throw line. The Wildcats narrowly won the rebounding battle, 50-49.
Senior guard Adrian Kuyinu led the Spartans with 24 points on 8-of-19 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He notched a double-double when he added ten rebounds.
Sophomore guard Chris Buzzell netted 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep territory. He sank all five free throw attempts.
Buzzell started the game by making his first two shots, a three-pointer and a layup, which gave MBU a 7-2 lead over the first 2:42 of the contest.
Culver-Stockton erased the MBU lead and would take control over the next 10 minutes, but the Spartans kept things close.
With 7:45 left in the half, MBU went on a 14-2 to run erase a 26-21 Wildcat lead to take a 35-28 edge. That lead would not last long, as Culver-Stockton went on an 8-0 run to take a 36-35 lead with under a minute to play.
The Spartans had the ball for the last possession of the half, but Chance Welch's three-ball with five seconds left clanked off the rim. Fortunately for the Spartans, the ball was rolled out of bounds on the Wildcats, setting-up another opportunity for MBU. Welch drained the three as the buzzer sounded, giving the Spartans a 38-36 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Spartans extended the lead to 40-36 after a jumper by Buzzell on the first possession.
Culver-Stockton would not take its first lead of the half until four minutes in, when they took a 46-45 lead on a mid-range jumper. The Wildcats would extend the lead to eight points at 57-49 with 12:40 left in the game, but the Spartans would not go away.
Kuyinu drained a long three-pointer with 7:16 left in the game to cut the Culver-Stockton lead to just 66-63. Unfortunately for MBU, that would be the closest they would get, as the Wildcats went on a 9-1 run over the next four minutes to take a 75-64.
Missouri Baptist was unable to get the deficit into one possession and the Wildcats would end the contest with an 81-73 victory.
The Spartans will have a short rest before taking on Avila University tomorrow at 1:00 pm to close the Columbia College Classic.
