ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] The Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball season came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday night at the Petty SRC. The fifth seeded Williams Baptist (Ark.) Eagles knocked off the fourth seeded Spartans 69-61 in the first round of the AMC Tournament.

Missouri Baptist stormed out of the gates in the first half, grabbing an early 7-0 lead. The visiting Eagles steadied the ship, however, scoring eight of the next 10. Neither team could find separation from there. The largest lead from that point on in the opening frame was four. Williams Baptist had a 27-25 edge going into the break.

The second half started similarly but the game took a drastic turn with around 15 minutes showing on the clock. Williams Baptist scored 14 consecutive points in a chaotic two minutes span to take a 51-32 lead.

The run took the wind out of the Spartans' sails but the home side wasn't ready to roll over just yet. They used an 11-0 run of their own to close the gap from 16 down to five with 7:30 to go. A three from Fitzgerald Hopkins made it 59-56 WBC with 4:28 left but that would as close as the fourth seeded Spartans could get. The Eagles pulled away late for an eight-point victory. They advance to the AMC Semifinal on Friday night. They will play the eight seed Lyon College. The Scots upset top seeded Columbia.

Pablo Hernandez led the way for MBU with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Fitzgerald Hopkins also reached double figures with 14 points.

Missouri Baptist will now be forced to play a waiting game. The bracket for the NAIA National Championship Tournament will be released on March 7. The Spartans were receiving votes in the latest poll, essentially making them a bubble team. If this was indeed the end of the line in the 2017-18 season, the Spartans finish with a record of 23-8 overall.