ST. LOUIS – The Spartans led by eight midway through the second half, but were unable to hold off Bryan College Friday night in an 83-80 loss at Platt Arena.

Bryan forward Brandon Cole led all scorers with 33 points to lead the Lions (2-2) to victory. Five players reached double figures for the Spartans (1-1), led by David Gabrovsek's 19 points.

The back-and-forth battle featured nine ties and five lead changes. Missouri Baptist trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, but used a 25-12 run to lead 40-38 heading into the halftime break.

Gabrovsek cut the early deficit to 26-17 with a field goal to start the run. The junior from Slovenia hit seven of his 15 field goals on the night. Overall, the Spartans shot 40 percent from the field and just 25 percent from 3-point range. Gabrovsek also hit two free throws with 34 seconds left to give Missouri Baptist the two-point halftime lead.

The Lions tied things back up at 44-44 early in the second half, before the Spartans went on another run. They outscored Bryan 18-10 in the next 5:26 to go up 62-54 with 10:51 left. Gabrovsek and Stephen Buckner both hit 3-pointers during the run. Chris Buzzell, Will Harrington and Isaiah Cotton also hit field goals to help Missouri Baptist jump out to the eight-point lead.

Then it was Bryan's turn to jump out in front. Cole scored two of his 33 points with 6:23 left to tie the game at 68-all. The senior sparked a late run for his team and Bryan wouldn't trail again. The Spartans wouldn't trail by more than six the remainder of the game, but weren't able to make one final push to victory.

Buckner had a chance to tie the game with seven seconds left, but his 3-pointer missed. Missouri Baptist struggled from deep all night long, hitting just four of 15 attempts.

Cotton and John Caraballo both recorded double-doubles in the loss. Cotton had 14 points and 11 rebounds while Caraballo also corralled 11 rebounds and scored 12 points. Buzzell and Harrington each added 10 points.

The Spartans play again on Saturday against Moody Bible Institute in the final game of the Huntington (Ind.) Classic.