ST. LOUIS— [
BOX SCORE] Missouri Baptist men's basketball put in a dominant performance at home on Tuesday night in an 89-38 romp over Lindenwood-Belleville. The Spartans moved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the American Midwest Conference.
Playing at the Petty SRC for just the second time this season, the Spartans gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about. The Lynx, meanwhile, were outgunned from the opening tipoff.
After going ahead 3-2 with 19:04 left in the first half, Lindenwood-Belleville wouldn't record another point until 6:57 showed on the clock. Suffocating defense from the Spartans held the Lynx to just 11 first half points. At the other end, the navy and white kept its foot on the gas, draining nine of 17 tries from behind the three-point line. MBU led by 31 at the break.
The Spartans used their full roster in the second half but the result was more of the same. When the dust settled, it was a 51-point difference between the home and away side.
The final stat sheet showed wide-ranging contributions, several new career-highs, and a shattered team record. Led by six from senior
Torrance Littles and five from redshirt sophomore
Rick Hill, the Spartans set a new single-game team record with 14 blocks. The previous mark of 11 was set on December 3, 2011 against McKendree.
Littles also tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven. The other half of that tie was sophomore guard
Jesus Castillo. The native of Malaga, Spain equaled his career high in boards for the third time this season while also adding 12 points.
Gerald Moore and
Hasaan DeCarolis both came off the bench in the second half to post 11 points. Moore provided the fireworks with a thunderous breakaway dunk that brought the SRC crowd to its feet.
The most balanced stat line of the night belonged to swingman
James McKelvin. The junior posted a career-high five assists to go along with nine points, six rebounds, and three steals. McKelvin also got in on the blocking fun with two of his own.
Missouri Baptist finished the night shooting 54% (32-59) from the field while holding the Lynx to just 19% (14-71). MBU also dominated the rebounds (52-39) and the assists (21-5) categories.
The victory moves the Spartans into the top spot in the AMC in the early going. That spot will be almost immediately put to the test however with defending AMC Postseason Tournament champion Harris-Stowe set to visit the SRC on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
