ST. LOUIS—[BOX SCORE] Poor free throw and three-point shooting played a part in a 73-68 loss for Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball to Hannibal-LaGrange on Tuesday night.

Hannibal hadn't won a game since December 30 but you wouldn't know it from the shooting performance they put forth from beyond the arc in the first half. The Trojans matched the Spartans step for step for the first 10 minutes before building a nine-point lead late in the opening frame. The home side made six of the seven threes they attempted to take a 39-32 advantage into the break. MBU, conversely, made just two of 11 from deep.

The Spartans quickly tracked down the lead in the early going of the second half. They narrowed the deficit to one on three separate occasions before finally taking a 53-52 lead of their own with a little over eight minutes left.

The Trojans were unphased, however, and the lead bounced back and forth for most of the final stretch. Missouri Baptist looked to be in good shape after Jesus Castillo drained a go-ahead three with 39 seconds left. Brady Smith came back the other way, though, and converted a layup while being fouled. Hannibal would hold the lead from there. The Trojans made their final five free throws to seal the upset.

MBU finished the night 14-26 from the free throw line. The struggles from three continued in the second half as the Spartans made just 4-13 attempts.

Pablo Hernandez and Johnny Benson each finished with 16 points to lead the Spartans. Benson was a team-high 63% from the field while also leading the way with three steals.

The navy and white will continue to search for their 20^th win on Saturday against Lindenwood-Belleville. Tip at the Petty SRC is set for 3 pm. The Lynx won the first meeting 94-88 back in late December.