ST. LOUIS—Missouri Baptist Men's Basketball earned its first AMC win of the season with a 71-66 come-from-behind effort over Columbia College (4-5, 1-2 AMC) on Tuesday night. The Spartans are now 5-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play ahead of Thursday's showdown with No. 20 Park.
 
After more than a month between home games, the Spartans' return to the Petty SRC did not get off to a promising start on Tuesday night. After taking an early one-point lead, Mo. Bap watched as the Columbia shooters scorched the nets on a 21-4 run.
 
The Cougars led by 18 (38-20) with just under seven minutes left in the first half. That's where the script flipped for the Spartans and senior Jahmouri Robinson was the catalyst. Robinson posted eight of his team-high 11 first half points in the final six minutes to help close the deficit all the way down to five (41-36) going into the locker room.
 
After shooting close to 70% as a team for the majority of the first half, Columbia finally came back to earth in the second half. CC went just 9-28 from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Spartans, meanwhile, continued to chip away and finally took the lead on a three-pointer by Aumonie Armond with 14:48 to go.
 
The two evenly matched sides would go back and forth in the final 10 minutes but it was the Spartans' senior leader Robinson who ultimately put the team on his back. Robinson made 7-9 from the field in the second half, including a stretch of four consecutive makes that gave MBU a lead they would not relinquish.
 
The former Cardinal Ritter standout would seal the game from the free-throw line in the final seconds and finish with a career-high 28 points. He added five assists and seven rebounds.
 
"After the first timeout, they [Columbia] had six threes," noted MBU Head Coach Preston Ingram. "After that they hit one and then two in the second half. That was the key to the game. We got going and really got back to what we wanted to do in the original game plan."
 
John Yaeger (15) and Aumonie Armond (11) joined Robinson in double-figure points. Armond also double-doubled with 10 rebounds. Brendon Hardy chipped in with eight points and five assists.
 
The Spartans will now continue their gauntlet of a week with a meeting against No. 20 Park (7-1, 3-1 AMC) on Thursday night. Tip time for 'Ugly Christmas Sweater' night is scheduled for 7:30 pm at the Petty SRC.
 
*Note: because the Spartans scored 70 points at home, box combos are buy one, get one at the Raising Cane's on Manchester Rd. in Des Peres all day Wednesday.*