ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] The Missouri Baptist men's basketball team pulled-down a season-high 60 rebounds, but dropped a high-paced game to Williams Baptist, 68-58. The Spartans nearly doubled its season-high with 27 offensive rebounds in the contest.
Missouri Baptist (4-16, 3-10 AMC) shot just .309 from the field, making 21-of-68 shots. The Spartans made only 3-of-20 from three-point range and sank 13-of-20 from the free throw line. MBU turned the ball over a season-high 28 times, while forcing the Eagles into 18 turnovers.
Williams Baptist (10-8, 9-5 AMC) made 26-of-62 shots from the floor, including 4-of-15 from deep range. The Eagles made 12-of-22 from the free throw line and lost the rebounding battle, 60-36.
Sophomore Chris Buzzell led MBU with 15 points on 5-of-11 from the floor. He made all four free throw attempts and pulled down eight rebounds. Buzzell added three steals and one block in 26 minutes of action. He started the contest 5-for-5 from the floor in the first half.
Junior Stephen Buckner II netted 11 points on 5-of-18 from the floor. He added eight rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal, while logging 36 minutes.
Senior Adrian Kuyinu made 4-of-14 from the floor en route to 10 points. He added eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Junior forward James King had an eventful night in the paint. He pulled down a team-high nine boards, and also scored six points on 3-of-5 from the floor.
Buzzell took control of the contest early. He scored six straight points for the Spartans over the first three minutes, and guided MBU to a 6-3 lead.
The Spartans extended the lead to 11-5 with 14:24 left in the half, but the Eagles used a 14-0 run over the next 3:21 to take a commanding 19-11 lead. Buzzell made the next two buckets for the Spartans, which cut the deficit to 19-16, but Williams Baptist quickly extended the lead once again to 29-18.
The lead swelled to 12 points for WBC at 35-23, but two free throws by Tywan Brooks with over a minute left cut the halftime deficit to 35-25.
Missouri Baptist made just 9-of-32 from the field, 5-of-5 came from Buzzell. Freshman Chance Welch led the Spartans with five rebounds at the break. The Eagles shot an impressive .471 from the floor over the first 20 minutes, making 16-of-34 from the field.
After the Eagles started the second half with consecutive free throws, MBU used a 6-0 run to shrink the deficit to 37-31 with 17:28 left in the game.
The pace picked-up over the next seven minutes and the Eagles extended its lead to the largest of the game at 62-44, with 10:19 left in the contest.
Just as quickly as the Eagles extended the lead, Missouri Baptist sprinted back into the contest with a 14-1 run over a 7:46 span. Four different Spartans scored during the stretch, led by Jahmari Gordon's five points. Missouri Baptist trailed 63-58 with 2:33 left in the game.
WBC called a timeout after an MBU missed free throw, which halted the Spartan run. Missouri Baptist was held scoreless over the final 2:33 of the game, and the Eagles won the contest, 68-58.
Missouri Baptist will host Lyon on Saturday at 4 pm in efforts to earn victory No. 5 of the season.
