ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] For the second consecutive night, the Missouri Baptist men's basketball team dropped a heart-breaking loss, as No. 9 Columbia defeated the Spartans, 77-73. MBU had the chance to tie the game on the last possession of the contest, but the layup fell short.
Missouri Baptist (5-23, 4-17) handled everything that No. 9 Columbia (23-5, 16-4 AMC) threw their way. The Spartans shot an outstanding .453 from the floor, connecting on 24-of-53 shots. The Spartans sank 10-of-20 three point shots and made 15-of-17 from the free throw line.
The Cougars shot .531 in the contest after making 26-of-49 from the floor, 8-of-13 from deep territory, and 13-of-17 from the free throw line. Columbia was limited to a season-low 26 rebounds, as the Spartans pulled down 35 boards.
Sophomore Chris Buzzell earned Hampton Inn & Suites Star of the Game honors after leading all scorers with 25 points. He made 8-of-11 from the floor, a perfect 5-for-5 from three point land, and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. The guard also pulled down four rebounds, recorded a block, and one steal.
Junior Stephen Buckner Jr. tallied 10 points and four rebounds, while leading the Spartans with four assists and three steals.
Senior Adrian Kuyinu netted 10 points on 4-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep range. The guard had five rebounds and one assist in 34 minutes of action.
Sophomore Stanley Eboh led MBU with eight rebounds, including five in the offensive zone. He scored six points on 2-of-3 from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Missouri Baptist showed no signs of allowing the No. 9 team in the country to ease to a victory. The Spartans led 10-3 over the first 3:18 of the game, and did not trail until the Cougars hit a layup to take the lead 14-13 with 13:35 left in the half.
The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes until Stephen Buckner's 3-ball gave MBU a 23-19 lead with 8:24 remaining.
The Spartans once again extended the lead to four points when Buzzell drained a three pointer to give the home team a 30-26 lead with 4:55 left in the half.
After Columbia called a timeout with 4:10 left and MBU leading 30-27, freshman forward Josh Davis took control. He pulled down two rebounds, recorded one block, and drained a bucket to give the Spartans a 32-29 lead.
Buzzell followed with a massive three pointer to extend the lead to 35-29 with 1:12 left in the half, setting up an exciting final minute.
Columbia held for the last shot of the half and drained a buzzer-beater three to cut the halftime deficit to 35-32.
Missouri Baptist connected on 13-of-27 from the field over the first 20 minutes, and were led by Chris Buzzell's 15 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
In the second half, the Cougars led 43-42 with 14:33 left in the game before Bryce Weibrecht drained a three pointer on the next possession to give MBU a two point lead.
The lead extended to four when James King scored a physical bucket with 13:40 left in the contest to give MBU a 47-43 lead.
The momentum swung towards the Cougars after they connected on four three pointers to take a 64-53 lead with just 6:20 left in the game.
With the Spartans trailing by 11 points (66-55), the navy and white made a furious comeback. King connected on two free throws, followed by Buckner's two free throws. A Columbia turnover setup a three pointer by Kuyinu to cut the deficit to 66-62, with 3:04 left in the game.
Columbia sank two free throws with only 56 seconds left in the contest, but Buzzell blasted a three pointer to cut the Cougar lead to 71-67 with 33 ticks left.
The Spartans set up a full court press, which allowed for the Cougars to fire a baseball pass the length of the court for an easy two points. That gave Columbia a 73-67 lead with only 27 seconds remaining.
Just six seconds later, Kuyinu splashed a three pointer, cutting the Cougar lead to 73-70.
Missouri Baptist was forced to foul on the ensuing possession, which turned into two free throws for Columbia. Buzzell took the inbounds pass, crossed mid-court, and heaved a 3-ball at the edge of the MBU logo. When the ball went through the hoop for three points, the Spartans trailed 75-73 with only 12 seconds left.
The Spartans fouled on the inbounds pass and Columbia missed on both free throws. Tywan Brooks grabbed the rebound, went coast-to-coast, and went in for the game-tying layup. Brooks took a blow to the head, forcing the missed shot. The ball bounced off several bodies, and Kuyinu seemed to grab possession. Contact on the loose ball caused Kuyinu to hit the floor, and Columbia grabbed the ball. The Cougars sank both free throws after the Spartans were forced to foul, but only three-tenths of a second were left on the clock. The final horn sounded with the Cougars winning the game, 77-73.
Missouri Baptist will host William Woods on Saturday for the annual Senior Day.
