ST. LOUIS – [Box Score] The Missouri Baptist men's basketball team gave a massive scare to No. 4 Freed-Hardeman with a second half lead, but the Lions won the contest, 92-80. The Spartans held a 56-51 lead with 11:23 left in the contest, but could not close the deal.

Missouri Baptist (4-18, 3-12 AMC) gave the Lions everything they could handle. MBU shot .418 from the field after making 28-of-67. The Spartans added 5-of-11 from 3-ball territory and 19-of-25 from the free throw line.

No. 4 Freed-Hardeman (20-2, 15-1 AMC) used a deep bench, scoring 31 points from the non-starters. The Lions made 30-of-65 from the floor and 6-of-17 from three point land. The difference-maker proved to be from the charity stripe, where FHU sank 26-of-30, including hitting the final 13 points from the free throw line.

The rebounding battle favored the Lions, 46-37, but the two teams were even in enhanced scoring. Both teams scored 42 points in the paint, FHU held a 12-10 lead in fast break points, an 18-17 lead in points off turnovers, and a 23-16 advantage in second chance points. The lone category dominated by the Lions was a 31-13 point advantage in points from the bench.  

Missouri Baptist dominated play from the guards. Sophomore Chris Buzzell led MBU with 22 points, while junior Stephen Buckner II added 21 points, and senior Adrian Kuyinu scored 15 points.

Buzzell connected on 9-of-16 from the floor and hit on 2-of-2 from three point range. He sank both free throw attempts, and ripped six rebounds, including five offensive boards.

Buckner II sank 7-of-14 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from shots inside the 3-point arc. He added 7-of-8 from the free throw line, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Kuyinu stuffed the stat sheet for the Spartans. Although he made just 4-of-12 from the floor, he succeeded on 6-of-8 from the free throw line, gobbled-up three rebounds, dished eight assists, and swiped two steals.

Junior forward James King made 4-of-6 from the floor en route to nine points. He led the Spartans with eight rebounds, and picked-up one swat.

No. 4 Freed-Hardeman seemed to have things under control, leading 25-17 with 8:58 left in the half.

The lead swelled to 14 points when the Lions pounded the rock inside the paint. FHU led 33-19 with 5:19 left in the half and showed signs of pulling away.

Missouri Baptist held the Lions scoreless for the final 1:58 of the half and used a mini 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 40-30 at the break. James King ended the half with a physical bucket in the paint to end the scoring.

In the second half, the Spartans used a massive 15-5 run to tie the game at 45-45 with 14:47 left in the game. MBU scored 14-of-15 points inside the paint during the run, with one point coming from the free throw line.

Just as quickly as MBU sprinted back into the contest, the Lions scored the next six points in a 45-second span to take a 51-47 lead.

The Spartans answered once again, this time with a 9-0 run during a span of just under two minutes. The eruption gave MBU its first lead of the contest. Buzzell drained a 3-ball to give MBU a 54-51 lead, then Kuyinu connected on two free throws to extend the lead to 56-51 with 11:23 left in the contest.

The lead evaporated into a 68-62 advantage for Freed-Hardeman with 7:18 left in the game, but the Spartans showed no signs of packing it in.

The turning point in the contest came with just 3:33 left on the clock. Kuyinu had just made a tough bucket in the paint to cut the deficit to 76-72, and the Spartans forced the Lions to take a bad shot on the next possession. Instead of having a chance at cutting the deficit to one possession, the Lions secured the rebound and hit a devastating 3-pointer in the corner to take a 79-72 lead.

Freed-Hardeman scored its final 13 points of the contest from the free throw line and never allowed the Spartans to get within one possession. The final horn sounded with a heart-breaking 92-80 loss for the pesky Spartans.

Missouri Baptist will take its tough-minded bunch into back-to-back matchups with rival Lindenwood-Belleville. The Spartans host the Lynx on Saturday at 4:00, and LUB hosts MBU on February 12 at 7:30 pm.