SAINT LOUIS - [BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist utilized a strong second-half surge to grab its ninth win of the season on Saturday. The Spartans, led by Pablo Hernandez, shot 44 percent from the floor in a 67-56 victory over Philander Smith (Ark.).
Missouri Baptist (9-1, 3-1 AMC) was tested in its first contest since earning an NAIA Top 25 ranking last week, and the Spartans responded with a big effort on home court.
The Spartans jumped-out to a 13-2 lead on the Panthers, but Philander-Smith came firing back. The Panthers put together a 12-3 run and capitalized on the cold perimeter shooting of Missouri Baptist midway through the first half.
As the game evened, Missouri Baptist entered halftime with just a five-point, 28-23 advantage. Both teams shot 10-31 from the field in the opening period of play. It was the second frame, however, that things turned in favor of the home team.
Coming out of the break, the Spartans utilized a hot Jesus Castillo to open the lead. The freshman from Spain got the first three shooting opportunities for the Spartans and drained each from three-point land to give his team a 37-28 lead.
As the Spartan defense continued to show why it is one of the best in the nation, the offense got hot when it needed to. Pablo Hernandez and Fitzgerald Hopkins both knocked-down triples in the opening 10 minutes of the second half as Missouri Baptist rolled to the victory.
The Spanish connection led the Spartans on Saturday. Pablo Hernandez finished with a career-high 22 points while his counterpart Castillo netted 15 points in the victory and grabbed a career-high for himself in the game.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic of the game was the ball security that the Spartans displayed. The Panthers entered Saturday's contest ranked second in the NAIA averaging over 15 steals per game. Missouri Baptist held Philander Smith to just seven on the night.
With the win, the Spartans will enter next week's tough road matchup with a hot Missouri Valley squad with a 9-1 record on the year.
The Spartans will return home on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. against Culver-Stockton (Mo.).
