CONWAY, ARK. – [
BOX SCORE] (8) Missouri Baptist men's basketball faced its stiffest test of the season on Saturday afternoon but pulled off a miracle second half comeback to remain undefeated at 13-0 (6-0 AMC). The Spartans trailed (18) Central Baptist College (9-1, 3-1 AMC) by as many as 20 points before a stunning rally in the AMC's Game of the Week.
CBC stormed out of the gates in the first half, scoring the game's first eight points. It took the Spartans nearly five minutes to register their first field goal. MBU's offense struggled to get going while the Mustangs seemingly couldn't miss.
After 10 minutes, Missouri Baptist had just 10 points and trailed by 14. CBC would go on to shoot 53% (16-30) in the first half. The shell-shocked Spartans went into halftime down 44-29—their largest halftime deficit of the season.
The second half did not offer a promising start either. CBC continued its hot shooting and a three-pointer from senior forward Victor Dukes pushed the advantage to 51-31. But that would be where the game turned for Missouri Baptist.
The Spartans called a timeout and regrouped. A personnel change brought two fresh bodies in the game in sophomores
Gerald Moore and
Rick Hill. The changes gave MBU the shot of energy they'd been searching for all day. Almost immediately, Moore drew a charge and an offensive foul.
Kai Woodfall knocked down a three at the other end on the ensuing possession. That sequence sparked a 15-3 run for MBU to trim the deficit back to single digits.
Missouri Baptist continued to chip away from that point forward and they finally narrowed it to a one-possession game with 2:18 to go. That's when Woodfall was fouled on a three-point attempt. The senior went to the line and drained all three free throws to make the score 71-70. A little over a minute later
James McKelvin buried the go-ahead three and the Spartans didn't look back.
Central Baptist scored its last bucket with 4:21 left on the clock. MBU would record the game's final 12 points to pull away for a 77-71 victory. The win moved the Spartans into sole possession of first place in the American Midwest Conference at 6-0. CBC suffered its first loss and fell to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the AMC.
As a team the Spartans shot just 40.9% while CBC scored at a 52% clip. The difference was made up in turnovers, offensive rebounds, and free throws. Mo. Bap won the turnover battle 19-10 and the offensive board battle 13-7 while draining all 13 free throw attempts. The Mustangs, meanwhile, finished 12-16 from the line.
Kai Woodfall finished the day with 24 points to lead Missouri Baptist. The senior was a perfect 9-9 from the charity stripe.
Jesus Castillo and
James McKelvin also reached double figures for the Spartans.
Castillo finished with 15 points and five rebounds. McKelvin found himself in foul trouble in the first half but steadied the ship to record all 14 of his points after the intermission, including the game-winning three-pointer. The junior from Hazelwood East HS also led the visitors with three steals.
"We showed a lot of poise and fight tonight," commented Head Coach
Matt Brock. "We had all 12 guys contribute.
Gerald Moore came in, took a huge charge that got our press going and that really got us back in the game."
The win moved the Spartans into sole possession of first place in the American Midwest Conference at 6-0. Their next conference action will be next Saturday, back in the state of Arkansas against Lyon College.
Before that, however, the Spartans return to Carl and Deloris Petty SRC on Tuesday for their last home game of the semester and last non-conference game of the regular season. They'll take on Missouri Valley College with a tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm.
