Box Score ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] A high-powered Missouri Baptist offense, led by Jake Terry's 19 points lifted the Spartans to a 106-91 road win over St. Ambrose Monday night.
Terry led a balanced attack for MBU in helping the Spartans (5-4) snap their three-game skid. The road team shot 60 percent overall and six players reached double figures: Chris Buzzell, David Gabrovsek, Luke Call, Jared White and Johnny Benson. The offensive shootout also saw point guard Will Harrington finish one point and three assists shy of a triple-double. His 10 rebounds led the team.
Buzzell opened the game with a bucket and the Spartans never trailed. SAU came close on several occasions to taking a lead, but couldn't keep up with the high-octane attack. The Bees (4-5) also shared the rock well, finishing with five players with 10+ points led by Kain Arthofer's game-high 24.
Two more of Buzzell's 17 points helped the Spartans lead reach double digits for the first time all night with 2:38 left in the first half. MBU finished the final six minutes of the half on a 21-11 run to take a 48-36 lead into halftime.
After watching a halftime lead slip away against St. Ambrose in a 84-82 loss on Nov. 22nd, the Spartans knew they had a long way to go to seal the win. In fact, during its 1-4 skid, MBU led at the half in each game.
The Bees managed to score 55 points after halftime, but it wasn't enough against the hot-shooting Spartans. Terry had 15 points in the second half and Gabrovsek added 13 to lead the way in a half MBU shot 63 percent. A Gabrovsek triple pushed the lead to 11 with 16:55 to go before the Bees went on a run.
A 10-0 St. Ambrose spurt dwindled the Spartan lead to one in just over a two-minute span. This time, however, MBU dug deep and found an answer. Terry scored three points the old-fashioned way to spark an 8-0 run for the road team. All of a sudden, with 13:49 remaining the Spartans led 63-54.
The Bees wouldn't go away and once again shrunk the deficit to 64-62 with 12:25 left in the game. However, that's as close as they'd get to a lead. White put the Spartans ahead 80-71 with a bucket and they'd lead by at least eight in the final 6:51.
St. Ambrose relied heavily on the 3-point ball, but connected just nine times on 39 attempts. 26 offensive rebounds kept them in the game throughout as they outrebounded MBU 51-37. On the other end, the Spartans took care of the ball and hit their free throws down the stretch to pick up the road win. They'll look to continue their winning ways on Thursday at home against Morthland. Tip is set for 7:00 pm.
