ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] The Spartans rode a strong first half to victory over Hannibal-LaGrange 78-71 Tuesday night, behind Jared White's game-high 24 points.

After a back-and-forth opening five minutes, Missouri Baptist (16-10, 11-7) took a 10-8 lead off a bucket from John Caraballo and never trailed again. The Caraballo bucket sparked a 34-12 Spartan run to close the half.

Chris Buzzell drilled a 3-pointer to put Missouri Baptist up 29-13 and cap a 9-0 run with 5:52 left in the half. Buckets from White, Caraballo, Isaiah Cotton and Stephen Buckner also helped MBU finish the well-played half on a mini 9-2 scoring spurt.

The Spartans were dominant on both ends of the court in the opening half. MBU shot 53.3 percent from the field, while holding the Trojans (5-18, 4-15) to just 20 points on 8-of-34 shooting (23.5 percent). Buckner ended the half off with a coast-to-coast layup as time expired to give the navy and white a 42-20 lead heading into the locker room.

White had a team-high 11 points in the first half, one in which nine total Spartans scored. Caraballo, Buzzell finished with six and five points each, while Will Harrington dished out five assists of his game-high eight assists. 

Five more points from White and a bucket from Caraballo gave Missouri Baptist a 27-point lead, 49-22, with 17:46 to go in the second half. Then, the script seemed to flip for both sides in the remaining minutes. The Spartans struggled to defend, allowing Hannibal to shoot 60 percent and score 51 second-half points on 18-of-30 shooting. Meanwhile, the offense also fell off a bit, as MBU shot the ball at just a 33.3 percent clip.

By the 8:02 mark the Trojans whittled the deficit down to 10 points at 59-49. David Gabrovsek finished a three-point play at the charity stripe to up the lead back to 15 with 7:16 left, but then a 7-0 Hannibal run thanks to a sequence of consecutive makes dropped the Missouri Baptist lead to single digits for the first time since the 8:22 mark of the opening half. 

The Trojans got within six points in the final minute and within four, 75-71 with 17 seconds left, but MBU prevailed. Buzzell hit four clutch free-throws in the final minute to help seal the deal.

White reached his 24 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting. Buzzell finished with 12 and Caraballo notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The Spartans will look to win their third straight game Thursday night when they take on St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Tip is set for 7:30 pm.