ST. LOUIS, Mo. – [Box Score] On a night where both teams couldn't miss from the floor, Lyon College defeated the Missouri Baptist men's basketball team, 70-55. The Spartans dropped to 1-9 on the season and 0-4 in American Midwest Conference play.
Missouri Baptist shot .422 in the contest, making 19-of-45 shots from the floor. Lyon shot an eye-popping .628 over the 40 minutes of play, hitting on 27-of-43 shots from the floor. The Scots won the rebounding battle, 26-23.
Sophomore Chris Buzzell led the Spartans with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. He made 2-of-3 from deep range and made all four free throws.
Junior Stephen Buckner II scored 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting and made all six free throws.
The Spartans trailed 29-21 after one half of play. MBU shot .292 in the half, making 7-of-24 shots from the floor. Lyon made 12-of-23 shots from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
Lyon jumped to a 12-2 lead over the first 5:26 of play, but neither team would score for the next four minutes. Bryce Weibrecht broke the scoreless streak by both teams when he hit a 3-ball with 12:13 left in the half. That cut the deficit to 12-5.
Missouri Baptist held Lyon scoreless for seven minutes, but the Scots were able to hold MBU to just five points during that span. The Spartans trailed 14-7 with 9:39 left in the half.
Chris Buzzell scored six straight points for the Spartans, which cut the deficit to 16-13, but Lyon took control over the final seven minutes of the half and led 29-21 at the break.
Over the first nine minutes of the second half, the Spartans trailed 40-35, but Lyon's Ben Worlow scored 18 straight points for the Scots over the next eight minutes. That surge pushed Lyon to a 60-46 lead with 4:16 left in the game.
The Spartans could not find any major run to chip at the deficit, and Lyon ended the clock with a 70-55 victory.
Buzzell scored 14 second-half points, but was overshadowed by Worlow's 31 second-half points.
Missouri Baptist travels to Crowley's Ridge College on December 13 before taking on Freed-Hardeman on December 18 in the finale of the 2014 portion of the schedule.
