Box Score ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] No. 20 Park University used a hot-shooting second half to defeat the Spartans 85-71 Thursday night in Parkville, Mo.
Despite holding the conference's leading scorer Xavielle Brown to 13 points, 10 under his season average, the Spartans (14-10, 9-7) fell short. The Pirates (15-7, 13-4) pulled away from Missouri Baptist down the stretch thanks to shooting 59.4 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
After Isaiah Cotton scored the game's first bucket, Park would take control of the lead throughout the majority of the first half. However, the Spartans kept things close and managed to take a 26-25 lead after Chris Buzzell hit a 3-pointer with 6:49 to go in the half.
The road team then lost its momentum as Brown scored off a Spartan turnover to cap a 7-0 run to put the Pirates back up by five. John Caraballo cut the deficit to three at two separate points late in the half, as did Luke Call with 1:34 to go, but Levi Mitchell hit a big bucket with six seconds left to put the Pirates ahead 37-32 at the halftime break.
Park opened the second half on an 8-2 run to extend its lead to double digits and MBU never quite recovered. After out-shooting the Pirates in the first half, the Spartans allowed the country's 20th-ranked team to connect on 19-of-32 field goals after halftime.
Another Buzzell 3-pointer at the 17:11 mark got the deficit back to six, but that's as close as the Spartans would get to a second-half lead. A 16-4 response from the home team cut the game open and helped Park win its eighth game in a row at home.
Jared White led the Spartans once again in scoring with 14 points and also added a team-high seven rebounds. Caraballo scored in double-figures for the fifth straight game with 13 points, while Cotton added 11 and Gabrovsek finished with 10 off the bench. Cotton reached double-digits in scoring for the first time since Jan. 14, while Gabrovsek did so for the fourth time in five games. Will Harrington had another solid game distributing the basketball, registering a game-high seven assists.
The Pirates also had a balanced attack with five players scoring in double-figures. BJ Watson led the way with 16 points, while Mitchell and Mylin Jordan added 14 each. Watson also snagged 10 rebounds to notch a double-double.
MBU will look to bounce back on Saturday when they travel to 5th-ranked Columbia College. Tip is set for 4:00 p.m.
