ST. LOUIS- [Box Score] The Missouri Baptist men's basketball team could not slow down the hot-shooting of the Trojans, as Hannibal-LaGrange defeated the Spartans, 77-66.
Missouri Baptist (4-15, 3-9 AMC) made 19-of-52 (36 %) from the floor, and sank 25-of-32 from the free throw line. Hannibal-LaGrange (5-13, 5-8 AMC) shot an impressive 50 % from the floor, connecting on 27-of-52 shots. The Trojans added 20-of-29 from the free throw line. MBU won the rebounding battle, 33-31, including 10 on the offensive glass.
Sophomore Chris Buzzell led MBU with 16 points. He drained 6-of-11 from the field and sank all four free throw shots. The Texas native pulled down three rebounds, and picked-up a block and a steal.
Senior Adrian Kuyinu made 4-of-10 from the field and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe en route to 13 points. He added five rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
Ten of the 11 Spartans that played in the contest scored, and all 11 players tallied at least one rebound.
The action during the first five minutes of the contest was spent mainly inside the paint, where James King wracked-up three rebounds. The Spartans trailed the Trojans 9-4 during that span, but used a balanced attack to stay within a few possessions.
Buzzell made a spectacular reverse layup to cut the deficit to 20-15 with 8:44 left in the half. At that point, six different Spartans had scored, but MBU was just 5-of-14 from the floor.
The Trojans extended the lead to 29-19 with 3:59 left in the half, but the Spartans continued to stay aggressive. They were rewarded by getting to the free throw line, where the success continued. Bryce Weibrecht made both free throws after getting fouled, and cut the deficit to 29-21.
Hannibal-LaGrange once again extended the lead, this time to 12 points at 33-21. The Spartans used a 5-0 run to shrink the deficit to 33-26, but MBU missed its final four shots of the half and went into the locker room trailing, 39-26. MBU made just 7-of-25 from the field over the first 20 minutes and made only 2-of-9 from deep territory. The Spartans made the first 10 free throws, but missed the last one of the half, and ended the half making 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Hannibal-LaGrange shot .531 from the field, making 17-of-32 from the floor, but made just 4-of-9 from the free throw line.
Eight of the 11 Spartans who earned clock time scored points in the first half. Buzzell led MBU with six points on 2-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He added a team-high three rebounds. Junior James King and freshman Chance Welch each added three rebounds over the first 20 minutes.
Out of the locker room, MBU hit its first shot on a Kuyinu layup. After forcing a turnover on the first possession by the Trojans, Buzzell missed a mid-range jumper. Chance Welch gobbled the rebound, was fouled, and sank both free throws to cut the deficit to 39-30.
The two teams traded buckets over the next six minutes, and picked up a lot of fouls in the process. After Tywan Brooks sank both free throws with 13:53 left in the game to cut the deficit to 50-40, both MBU and HLG were in bonus.
Hannibal-LaGrange would not let the Spartans get into any groove, and continued to lead by double-digits. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Kuyinu drained both free throws, Stephen Buckner stole the inbounds pass, and made 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled on the way to the hoop. The Spartans trailed 65-60 with 9:12 left in the contest.
Chris Buzzell twice cut the deficit to 10 points on layups, but the Spartans were unable to shrink the Trojan lead to single digits. Hannibal-LaGrange ended the contest with a 77-66 victory.
Missouri Baptist will host Williams Baptist on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
