ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] Benedictine-Springfield shot 40 percent from the floor and evened the season series at one against Missouri Baptist men's basketball, 82-71, on Saturday.
Missouri Baptist (5-17, 4-8 AMC) entered Saturday's road contest desperate for a conference win after a road loss to Mid-Continent University on Tuesday, but was denied by Benedictine-Springfield. The Bulldogs had five players enter double-digit point totals in the home victory.
The Spartans were outscored 47-29 in the first half alone, which led to the road loss. MBU was out-rebounded 44-34 and shot just 47 percent from the free throw line (9-19) in the game.
Benedictine's Myles Harvell led the charge with 22 points while Marvine Leveille posted a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Thomas Dillard finished with 19 points while Nick Bennett and Justin Smith combined for 24 points.
Missouri Baptist was led by the 21 point, 10 rebound double-double by Corey McKinney. Chris Buzzell continued a memorable freshman campaign with 19 points. This was Buzzell's 19th game in double-digits in the 2013-14 season.
The Spartans outscored the Bulldogs 42-35 and shot .500 from the floor in the second half, but were in too deep of a hole to crawl out from. With the loss, Missouri Baptist will now have eight games remaining in the regular season and will face NAIA No. 3-ranked Freed-Hardeman University on Thursday in Henderson, Tenn. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
